Roy Hodgson has praised the efforts of his Watford side, but lamented individual errors, in the thrilling 3-2 home loss against Arsenal. A frantic first half of football saw three spectacular goes scored, and a further effort (from Emmanuel Dennis) ruled out for offside. Indeed, Cucho Hernadez’s stunning bicycle kick looked set to grab headlines, only for the rival attacking talents of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to fire Mikel Arteta’s men to victory. In light of the defeat, Hodgson was keen to highlight the hard work of his players, who nearly fought back to claim a late draw after Moussa Sissoko scored a second for the ‘Orns in the 87th minute of the game. Speaking to the press after the match,
Roy Hodgson said: “We always knew we would have to put out a lot of stops to get something from the game. I don’t think I can ask any more from the players on what they gave Watford football club and the fans today, I really don’t. I think in other circumstances, we could have got something from the game quite simply.”
He then went on to express his disappointment over some of the individual mistakes that led to Arsenal goals, but didn’t want to blame either Tom Cleverely or Imran Louza who were at fault.
Roy Hodgson said: “The two goals we conceded, unfortunately – the second and third goal – they weren’t good goals to concede that’s for sure. They came from quite clear technical mistakes. But technical mistakes are part of the game. You know, we understand that you don’t criticise your players for making a technical mistake.”
Cleverley was robbed of the ball in a dangerous area for the Gunners’ second goal, while Louza gave away a cheap throw-in shortly before Martinelli scored the club’s third.
Roy Hodgdon added: “We lost the game quite simply because they punished us for one or two mistakes we made.”
The defeat now leaves, the ‘Orns three points from safety despite having played more games than most of their rivals. Despite all the obvious gloom around the club, the bicycle kick from Cucho was a moment to savour for the Vicarage Road faithful and Hodgson was happy to see his team’s attack click despite both Ismaila Sarr and Josh King missing with injury.
Roy Hodgson said: “It was a great goal. It was a very good move. That’s the thing. It wasn’t just a good goal. It was a very good move. We had a few of those moves. I thought some of our attacking moves and the intentions today were actually quite good.”
He later concluded: “It’s nice to know that the goals are there.”
