The Times - UK (2020-07-27)

the times | Monday July 27 2020 2GG 7

thegame

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4:47pm 5:27pm 5:44pm 5:46pm 6:00pm FULL-TIME

P WDL FA GD Pts

Aston Villa....38 9 8 21 41 67 -26 35

B’mouth (R)..38 9 7 22 40 65 -25 34

Watford (R)...38 8 10 20 36 64 -28 34

Norwich (R)..38 5 6 27 26 75-49 21

Watford continue their

impressive comeback against

Arsenal, with Danny Welbeck

scoring against his old club to

reduce arrears to only one goal

at 3-2.

Jack Grealish gives Aston Villa

the lead and they look to be

safe, rendering Bournemouth’s

third against Everton – scored

by Junior Stanislas – seemingly

irrelevant.

An immediate twist up the other

end as Grealish deflects in

Andriy Yarmolenko’s strike and

West Ham are level against

Aston Villa, Bournemouth have

a small glimmer of hope again.

Aston Villa ride out the final

moments to earn a draw and

stay up by one point.

Bournemouth’s win cannot

save them and they go down

with Watford and Norwich.

Bournemouth regain the lead
on the stroke of half-time thanks
to in-form Dominic Solanke’s
header, meaning Aston Villa
now need to avoid defeat
against West Ham.

reduce the deficit further five minutes

after the interval. From a penalty-box

scramble, Welbeck laid the ball back

to Adam Masina, who blasted over

the bar.

The chances kept coming. Welbeck

and Deeney combined in a brilliant

exchange that culminated in the

former having a close-range effort

smothered by Martínez. Welbeck got

another bite. Sarr’s low cross found

the striker on the six-yard line, and he

nipped in ahead of the sprawling

Martínez to prod home.

Watford were now one goal from

salvation and attacking ravenously.

Sarr’s pace was causing huge

problems, and when he left Sead

Kolasinac eating dust, Welbeck was

waiting in the centre. The ball was

slightly behind the striker, and his

backheel was saved by Martínez.

Watford’s conviction grew as they

survived an almighty scare. Christian

Kabasele was robbed on halfway and

Eddie Nketiah bore down on goal

with Aubameyang in support. Nketiah

squared the ball, but Foster narrowed

the angle and made the crucial save.

Watford had two huge chances left.

First, Deeney headed over from six

yards when found by Nathaniel

Chalobah. Then Joao Pedro’s cross

from the left sailed just too far for

Dawson, who could make only a

glancing contact. His touch diverted

the ball to Welbeck, but he could not

react in time and the ball bounced off

his chest.

Ffity weeks ago, these teams began

their seasons under Unai Emery and

Javi Gracia, still basking in the

afterglow of a cup final run. Since

then, Arsenal have started a new era;

Watford have replaced the man who

replaced Gracia’s replacement; and

the Earth has almost gone round the

sun. It has been the longest season.

For Watford, it ends with the

cruellest fall.

curled an inswinger towards the heart

of the box, where Craig Dawson

slammed his shoulder into Alexandre

Lacazette’s neck. After a lengthy VAR

check, Mike Dean pointed to the spot.

Aubameyang sent Ben Foster the

wrong way.

The away side attacked at will, with

Arsenal’s defending supine. Ismaila

Sarr stood a cross up, Deeney met it

powerfully and only the face of Rob

Holding, effecting a manful block,

saved Arsenal. Instead the second

goal came, undeservedly, at the other

end. Joe Willock strode forward and

laid the ball to Nicolas Pépé, who

found Aubameyang with a curling

back-post cross. Aubameyang passed

to Kieran Tierney. Will Hughes was

not quick enough to make a telling

block, and instead, the Scotsman’s

shot brushed off his arm and tailed

into the bottom corner.

As Watford drooped, Arsenal added

another. A long throw-in was allowed

to reach Aubameyang, who, with

Dawson backing off, hooked the ball

past Foster with an acrobatic

overhead.

Watford needed a lifeline before

half-time, and they got one. As

Danny Welbeck stretched to get a

shot away, David Luiz caught him on

the ankle. It was the fifth penalty Luiz

had conceded this season, and

Watford profited, Deeney smashing

the ball less centrally than usual as

Martínez tried to call his bluff.

That sparked urgency in the

visitors, who were unlucky not to

Stat of the season

5

Arsenal defender David Luiz conceded

five penalties this season, the most a

player has conceded in a single Premier

League campaign

but it was Solanke who applied the
final touch as they went ahead again.
Junior Stanislas scored the third,
his shot squirming under Pickford,
who will not look back fondly on this
season.
Carlo Ancelotti, the Everton
manager, said somewhat matter-of-
factly that his team lacked the
motivation of Bournemouth, whose
6-2 aggregate success in the fixtures
this season damns Everton.
If only Howe’s side could have
played them every week.

KEY MOMENT

Dominic Solanke’s header immediately

before the interval restores

Bournemouth’s advantage.

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford

ends a season he will want to forget

by allowing Junior Stanislas’s shot to

squirm under his body.

Match briefing

Josh King’s penalty after Richarlison

was penalised for handball fuels the

visitors’ hopes of survival.

minutes

Deeney hints at departure

as Watford cannot escape

32

Aubameyang

5 (pen), 33

Tierney 24

Deeney 43 (pen)

Welbeck 66

RATINGS

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): E Martínez 8 — A Maitland-Niles

6, R Holding 5, D Luiz 5, K Tierney 6 —D Ceballos 6

(L Torreira 72min), G Xhaka 6 — N Pépé 7 (R

Nelson 72), J Willock 6 (S Kolasinac 57, 5), P-E

Aubameyang 8, A Lacazette 6 (E Nketiah 57, 6).

Booked: Xhaka, Holding, Martínez.

Watford (4-4-2): B Foster 7 — K Femenía 7

(A Mariappa 45, 6), C Dawson 5, C Kabasele 5,

A Masina 5 — I Sarr 7, W Hughes 5 (N Chalobah

81), A Doucouré 5 (T Cleverley 81), R Pereyra 6

(J Pedro 88) — D Welbeck 6, T Deeney 6. Booked

Pereyra, Hughes, Dawson.

Referee M Dean.

Arsenal Watford

JAMES GHEERBRANT

Arsenal and Watford are two clubs

divided by a hedge, but from next

season they will be separated by a

chasm. Their training grounds share a

postcode, but they now belong to

different worlds. After five years in

the top flight Watford finally ran out

of lives. They will play in the

Championship next season, though

they gave it everything in an

extraordinary, end-to-end match that

contained defensive disaster and

attacking courage in equal measure,

and almost ended in an incredible

escape.

Having fallen 3-0 behind, Watford

couldn’t quite claw their way back to

parity, and for all the endeavour they

mustered here under Hayden Mullins,

some will wonder whether their

season was doomed by the decision to

dismiss Nigel Pearson with two

matches remaining. It would be truer

to say that this campaign of four

reigns was the season that their policy

of using managerial changes as

motivational tinder finally failed. A

club powered by ever-diminishing

bounces couldn’t quite pogo over the

tripwire this time.

“Ultimately we haven’t been good

enough,” Troy Deeney, Watford’s

talisman, said. “If that is my last

game, I’m happy I went out on my

shield. Did I do everything I could?

Yes. Was it good enough? No. If it’s

my time to go, it’s my time to go.”

For Arsenal, this match was their

season in microcosm: attacking class

narrowly outweighing their appetite

for calamity. Ultimately, their

ruthlessness in the first half lifted

them to eighth in the table, but that

remains their worst league finish in 25

years. Emiliano Martínez and Pierre-

Emerick Aubameyang, two of their

stars this season, were decisive, with

the striker ending one goal shy of the

Golden Boot.

The action began with a critical

moment inside Watford’s penalty area

within 40 seconds. Aubameyang

Troy Deeney looks crestfallen as Watford are relegated after defeat by Arsenal

JULIAN FINNEY/AP

Ancelotti to

offer Baines

new role

Carlo Ancelotti is keen to keep

Leighton Baines at Everton after the

veteran defender announced his

retirement yesterday.

The 35-year-old made 420

appearances for Everton, having

joined from Wigan Athletic in 2007,

and was capped by England 30 times,

appearing at the 2014 World Cup in

Brazil. However, he has played only 17

times in the past two seasons as Lucas

Digne took over as first-choice left

back.

Baines was out of contract at the

end of the season and despite Everton

offering him the chance to extend his

deal by 12 months, he has taken the

decision to quit.

Ancelotti remains hopeful that

Baines can be persuaded to remain in

some capacity. “I had only the last six

months of his fantastic career and I

found a fantastic player still,” the

Everton manager said.

“I asked him to continue but he

decided to stop. Everyone at the club

has to be grateful to him. We tried to

keep him. It was important as he was

not only professional but because he

is still a good left back. But he decided

and we had to respect this.

“We have time to think about a new

role. We would like to know what he

would like to do in the future and the

fact he can stay with us will be a good

opportunity to use his knowledge and

his experience and also be a new

future for him.

“He didn’t talk to me about it yet

but he has some days to think about

this.”

BRADLEY ORMESHER/NMCPOOL

GETTY IMAGES/POOL

Bournemouth’s defensive

deficiencies allow Moise Kean to tap

home an equaliser.

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