Arsenal eased their way past Watford 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, marking their first clean sheet in 12 league matches and settling nerves at the Emirates after a string of losses in 2018 while Tottenham overcame an injury scare for Harry Kane to keep its Premier League top-four hopes on track with a 4-1 victory at Bournemouth.
The win leaves Arsenal 10 points off Champions League qualification in sixth place in the standings, while Watford stay in 10th. "It was a convincing win. It gets us out of that negative spiral that we were in," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told reporters.
Prior to their midweek 2-0 away win over AC Milan in the Europa League, the Gunners had lost four games in a row in all competitions, including back-to-back 3-0 drubbings by runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City. "In one week we got from hell to heaven," Wenger said.
Arsenal's German defender Shkodran Mustafi opened the scoring in the eighth minute, heading home from a Mesut Ozil free kick for his third goal of the season and the home side's 1,000th of the Premier League era. Watford pressed Arsenal back into their own area as the first half came to a close.