IWOBI

The performances of the young Nigeria international in recent weeks has reignited Arsenal's season and given them renewed hope of catching Leicester and Tottenham

While Roy Hodgson might well be picking either Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Theo Walcott in his England squad for the European Championships, it is the Nigerian-born attacker who the Three Lions let slip through their fingers that is doing more for Arsenal’s late, perhaps futile title challenge than either of those two.

Alex Iwobi departed the action here against Watford with 17 minutes to play to a standing ovation being replaced by Walcott, who iced the cake with a last minute goal of his own. By the time he left the stage, Iwobi had scored, set another goal up and hit the crossbar for good measure.

After truly announcing himself to Arsenal fans with a commendable display away to Barcelona in a hopeless Champions League cause, his first Premier League start on the back of that came at Everton where he scored his first goal.





Since then he definitively rejected the advances of the FA to pledge his international allegiance to the Super Eagles. A bout of illness couldn’t keep him out of the line-up for their Africa Cup of Nations failure against Egypt last week and he was back here to impress like he’d never been away. It’s been an eventful few weeks.

Iwobi was the best in red on a day that Arsenal honoured their beloved number 7 David Rocastle, who died 15 years ago this week.

It would scarcely be appropriate to describe this one as a contest such was Arsenal's domination of the meaningful stages. There is an element of frustration for Arsenal's fans who come to the Emirates on days like this because if they played as they did here all season long then we'd be looking at the champions. As it is, they are perceived as a team who can only do it when the pressure is off.

 

The season still has a fair bit to run though and out of all the contending clubs, Arsenal's run-in looks the most straightforward. It would take a reckless gambler to stake a decent sum on them becoming Premier League winners but all journeys must start somewhere. If Leicester City or Tottenham so much as draw a game then the reality of the matter is that Arsenal will be there to take advantage.

And looking at this Arsenal team now, it is hard to imagine the 19-year-old Iwobi not being part of it. He has slotted in seamlessly, energising the team at a low point of the season, meaning Arsene Wenger has a genuine option available to him in the injury-enforced absence of Aaron Ramsey.

There is a swagger, an ease about Iwobi’s play; whether he’s nutmegging opponents on the halfway line and earning a word in the ear from Wenger or delivering pin-point crosses for Alexis Sanchez. It was just that type of ball that set Arsenal on their way here before Sanchez returned the favour to allow Iwobi to slot home for a 2-0 half-time lead.





It was over by that stage, all told, with Watford on the receiving end of a revenge mission after knocking the Gunners out of the FA Cup three weeks ago. That defeat came during a stage of the season when it became apparent that Arsenal might tumble out of every competition going. It brought forth anger and disappointment.

But it’s not over yet.

Arsenal have clung on to their league challenge even though it is now more in hope than expectation. Still, this season has at least ensured Hector Bellerin is regarded as one of the best young right-backs in European football and now it has brought the emergence of Iwobi.

Wenger has taken criticism in recent years for failing to not only win meaningful trophies but also for neglecting to bring young players into the first team. Well, he has answered at least one of those questions by this stage of the season and has seven more matches to rectify the other.