Arsenal 1 – Watford 2: Gunners' title hopes all but ended ahead of Chelsea showdown

Fans called for the head of Hornets boss Walter Mazzarri at the weekend and he promised a response after the 1-0 defeat by Millwall – and boy, did his players provide it.

If anything looked like a straightforward Arsenal home win it was this one. OK, so there were 19 changes in all between the personnel which started the two teams’ respective FA Cup games at the weekend, but mentality and confidence levels – they do not change in the space of a couple of days, surely.

After all, the Gunners were looking for their sixth straight home league win and it is seven games since they conceded from open play.

The thrashing of Southampton could only have added to the sense of buoyancy around the Emirates, while Watford were still licking their wounds after an abject performance at the New Den saw them dumped out of the FA Cup by League One Millwall.

The Hornets were seven games without a league win and the last time they picked up maximum Premier League points from a midweek fixture was in April 2007.

On top of that, Arsenal have not conceded in the opening 15 minutes of any league game this season, so the very least Wenger could expect, condemned to the stands as he had been, was a solid start.

Funny the way things work out – although Wenger was almost certainly not laughing.

Ex-Tottenham defender Younes Kaboul’s low free-kick deflected off Aaron Ramsey and inside the near post with only 10 minutes on the clock.

Then three minutes later, another recent Spurs employee Etienne Capoue was allowed to run unmolested from the halfway line and fire in a shot. Petr Cech may have saved it, but Troy Deeney was on hand to finish off his third goal in eight games.

Arsenal fans thought they had a penalty in the 25th minute but Nacho Monreal was instead booked for simulation, tumbling theatrically upon feeling the faintest of nudges.

Indeed, it was Watford who came closest to adding to the scoreline, with Cech tipping over a Sebastian Prodl header and then later turning away a Daryl Janmaat drive.

Many felt that Wenger’s punishment for pushing a fourth official should have been a stadium, not a touchline, ban and here was the test of whether the four-match punishment represented an escape or not.

Was Wenger’s access to the dressing room at half-time enough to enable him to turn around a side who had been booed by their own fans at the end of the first period? The obvious change he made was to bring on Saturday’s hat-trick hero Theo Walcott for Olivier Giroud.

His impact was immediate, wasting one chance but then producing Arsenal’s first effort on target in the 50th minute, which Heurelho Gomes saved with his foot.

Only one change, but this was a different Arsenal again, Alex Iwobi testing Gomes with a low shot after 54 minutes but finding the keeper equal to it. Likewise Mesut Ozil moments later.

In the end, it was good work by Alexis Sanchez which broke Watford’s resistance, his cross side-footed in by Iwobi just before the hour.

It seemed like Arsenal were on the prowl but the Emirates quickly lost its roar and Arsenal’s football its bite. The hearts pumped briefly when Lucas thumped the ball against the crossbar minutes before the end but it was all too little too late.

Perhaps they have come to expect Arsenal to falter during this stage of the season, but with Chelsea waiting on Saturday, this was their opportunity.

A title race? Arsenal’s crime is not even to make the starting line.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech 6; Gabriel 5, Mustafi 6, Koscielny 7, Monreal 6; Coquelin 6 (Lucas 67, 5), Ramsey 4 (Oxlade- Chamberlain 20, 6); Iwobi 7, Ozil 5, Sanchez 7; Giroud 5 (Walcott 46, 7). Booked: Gabriel, Monreal, Sanchez. Goal: Iwobi 58. NEXT UP: Chelsea (a), Sat PL.

Watford (4-5-1): Gomes 7; Cathcart 6, Kaboul 7, Prodl 7, Britos 5; Behrami 5 (Doucoure 63, 5), Janmaat 6, Cleverley 6, Capoue 7, Niang 5 (Success 70); Deeney 7 (Okaka 85). Booked: Prodl, Okaka, Cleverley. Goals: Kaboul 10, Deeney 13. NEXT UP: Burnley (h), Sat PL.

Referee: A Marriner (West Midlands).