Man-of-the-match Odion Ighalo refound his goalscoring form when it mattered, opening the scoring for Watford, who ended Arsenal’s hopes of winning the FA Cup three years in succession with a 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.
Watford stunned FA Cup holders Arsenal with a dramatic 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium yesterday to book their place in the semi-finals at Wembley.
Odion Ighalo scored his first goal in 599 minutes to put the visitors ahead five minutes into the second half after Arsenal had spurned a series of good chances.
Adlene Guedioura then smashed home a second for Watford after 63 minutes with what was only the visitors’ second shot on target.
Danny Welbeck scored for the Gunners with two minutes left to set up a pulsating finish, before the England striker missed the chance to level with an open goal at his mercy.
With Costel Pantilimon beaten after an Alex Iwobi effort had come back off the post, Welbeck could only stab the ball agonisingly wide as he struggled to keep his balance on the turn.
Following defeats by Swansea and Barcelona, this was Arsenal’s third consecutive loss at the Emirates. It is their worst home run since moving from Highbury in 2006.
It was Arsenal’s first FA Cup defeat since February 2013 when they lost to Blackburn 756 days and 16 matches ago. The Gunners were looking to become the first side since Blackburn Rovers, back in the 1880s, to lift the FA Cup three years in a row.