Midway through the second half at Vicarage Road, with Arsenal leading 3-1 and seemingly cruising out of sight, the ball finally fell to Alexandre Lacazette in space on the edge of the box. After spending much of the previous 57 minutes with his back to goal, harrying and huffing long past his heart’s content, it felt almost unusual to see the Frenchman bearing down on goal without a centre-back draped over his shoulders. For Lacazette, too, it was clearly something of a shock.
What followed was a little like watching an ageing boxer who’s begun to question his own punches. Lacazette took a touch to set himself, opened his body to generate force and lashed a left-footed shot towards goal. It all seemed right, a feat of basic instinct, except the ball didn’t just swish through fresh air, it skewed so high and wide of the target it was more like a shank off the first tee on a groggy Sunday morning.
