Arsenal registered their first win of the new season against Watford.

The first half was good, the second… not so much.

The clash at Vicarage road got off to a rather sedate start. Although Arsenal were gradually pressing forward, Watford made it difficult for us to get the ball to our main playermaker: Mesut Ozil. When we can’t bring the German into our game, we suffer pretty badly.

There was a mild panic in the eighth minute when Alexis was clattered into inside the box. He went down clutching his head and then it appeared Arsenal had been given a penalty.

Santi Cazorla took it and scored! That’s right: Arsenal scored a penalty!

A calm but direct hit right down the middle.

After the first goal, Arsenal continued to gently press and played some silky, fluid football. The Hornets were quite happy to sit back and allow the Gunners to have plenty of possession, getting forward when they could, with most of their attacks breaking down very quickly.

As the first half wore on, Watford gave some of our key players more and more space. Ozil, who had initially found it hard to get into the game, was left practically unmarked at points.

We could have gone 2-0 up thanks to a cheeky ball across the box by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but Theo Walcott was too slow to react.

Petr Cech pulled off his first save of the game… thanks to a clearance from Laurent Koscielny that went awry.

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/769541633847230466

Watford did come into the game a bit more, getting forward a little too easily from an Arsenal perspective. Alexis and Ozil, however, linked up well and offered a lot.

The second Arsenal goal called upon goal-line technology. Alexis mis-kicked a cross and somehow managed to loop it into the Watford goal.

After a great run in the build-up play for the second goal, Theo suddenly realised what he could do and repeatedly surged forward, tearing Watford open.

The Hornets were punished for leaving Ozil unmarked on the brink of half time when he ran into the box from out of absolutely nowhere to head home a fabulous ball from Alexis into the box. 3-0.

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/769549577695420416

The second half started the same way the first had left off. Arsenal now knew how they could get past Watford and could have scored another couple of goals with ease if someone had been on the end of the crosses.

It didn’t stay this way. The Gunners became increasingly lacklustre and scrappy, the slightest bit of pressure forcing us to forget how to play.

In the 57th minute, the Gunners failed to properly clear the ball in the Watford box. Our scrappy play led to Roberto Pereyra scoring.

The Ox became gradually more and more annoying as he started wasting balls and shots. At one point, he tried a chip over the Watford goalkeeper and completely shot over the bar. Theo had tried the same chip just minutes early. Sigh.

Petr Cech was pulled far more into the game in the second half and made some truly brilliant saves.

Despite being 3-1 up, it still felt as if Arsenal were hanging on by a thread just waiting for Watford to score a second.

In the 74th minute, Nacho Monreal, who hadn’t been at his best hobbled off the pitch.

Arsenal continued to look very fragile. They couldn’t appear to build attacks anymore and looked vulnerable at the back. They did show moments of brilliance, mainly thanks to Alexis, but the match finished 3-1 to Arsenal.

There are still plenty of kinks that need ironing out but, for now, let’s just enjoy the three points.