Arsenal Paper View (h)

Van Persie plays villain to strike down Watford

To save their Premiership season, Adrian Boothroyd has called for Watford to show the spirit of Australia after they lost the Ashes last year. Unfortunately they lack the match-winners to pull off such a task. Against Arsenal, short of their best, they suffered to a brilliant late Robin van Persie goal. It was the equivalent of a Shane Warne flipper. And was just as deadly.

"There is some Bergkamp in there," is how Arsène Wenger preferred to describe the goal, the Dutchman's 10th of the season which came after he collected the substitute Theo Walcott's throughball, cut inside Jay DeMerit and curled a left-foot shot beyond Ben Foster. In truth, the on-loan goalkeeper, as much as Watford's deep wells of resilience and aggression, was the reason that Arsenal had to wait so long to secure the victory that raises them to third.

It came at a price. An injury to Johan Djourou will cause marginal concern - given the alarming nervousness of his display - but a thigh strain for Emmanuel Adebayor, and with Thierry Henry still absent, stretches Wenger's resources further. His team were unchanged from the destruction of Blackburn Rovers at the weekend and that was as much due to accident as design.

Boothroyd's resources are far thinner. He has to buy next month, and persuade new players to join in a daunting relegation fight, and now appears to have lost Hameur Bouazza, a hugely effective attacker last night who provided the rare sight of someone outmuscling Kolo Touré, with a dislocated shoulder.

"We are competing but we are not winning," Boothroyd said. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that we are not scoring enough goals." Bouazza, he thought, could have been the solution in a revamped counter-attacking style. Now it is, again, back to the drawing board. The Independent

Van Persie gives Arsenal a view to see beyond the rough tactics

The aesthetes beat the athletes, if only just. This was uncomfortable for Arsenal, but they will take pleasure and self-assurance from their obduracy in the face of Watford's relentless muscularity. They have won back-to-back league games for the first time since October and perhaps lost their reputation for flakiness against the division's more rugged sides.

Watford are bottom and nine points from safety but Adrian Boothroyd always thinks big. His programme notes yesterday can only enhance the Watford manager's reknown as an original thinker. He is an Englishman who has taken encouragement from the Ashes.

“The way Australia used defeat (in 2005) to find the very best in themselves sums up the psychology of sport . . . we must follow their example,” he wrote.

Boothroyd is unlikely to place an obituary notice in the Watford Observer “in affectionate remembrance” of his team's Premiership status just yet but his motivational powers are surely insufficient. Psychology is not alchemy. It can improve but it cannot transform. An infusion of brilliant new blood in the transfer window is probably Watford's only hope.

“We're competing and we're not winning,” Boothroyd said. “I thought we'd found a formula, but it's been taken away from us.” The key ingredient was Hameur Bouazza, a man-mountain with volcanic tendencies. The 21-year-old exploded down the left in the 22nd minute and his cross was steered in by Tommy Smith. The Times

Van Persie ends Watford's resistance as Arsenal continue to prosper without Henry

Arsenal continue to make light of Thierry Henry's absence, though they left it late before beating a stubborn Watford last night. Poor finishing and good goalkeeping by Ben Foster looked to have denied Arsène Wenger's team before Robin van Persie scored to extend their unbeaten run to seven games without their injured captain and move them into third place. The Guardian

Van Persie shows impeccable timing

Robin van Persie elevated Arsenal into third place in the Premiership with a performance which drew comparisons from his manager with another flying Dutchman, Dennis Bergkamp.

For the second time in four days, Van Persie left it late before securing the points that finally overcame belligerent Watford at Vicarage Road. With only seven minutes remaining and a draw looking likely, he struck a delightful goal – his 10th of the season – to leave Watford at the foot of the Premiership. Daily Telegraph