Watford vs Arsenal: Granit Xhaka can be modern-day version of Emmanuel Petit, says Arsene Wenger

Watford 1 Arsenal 3: Switzerland midfielder Xhaka, recruited from Borussia Monchengladbach, demonstated both an elegance on the ball and eye for a pass

Granit Xhaka was a star performer for Arsenal at Watford (Getty)

He might lack that unmistakable blond ponytail. Yet £25m signing Granit Xhaka can be Arsenal’s modern-day version of Emmanuel Petit, according to Arsene Wenger.

The Gunners' first victory of what, even now, amounts to a sluggish start start to this new Premier League season came courtesy of three familiar faces in Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

It was, though, one of their new arrivals who provided the most noteworthy display of all at Vicarage Road.

Switzerland midfielder Xhaka, recruited from Borussia Monchengladbach, demonstated both an elegance on the ball and eye for a pass alongside an ability to shield his defence and drop deep for possession.

For all the myriad of mercurial midfielders who have graced Emirates Stadium this past decade, too many of those qualities have been absent from Wenger's teams.

Not since the days Petit and fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira formed a formidable midfield partnership, in fact.

The pair were pivotal in Arsenal's rise under Wenger - both were instrumental in the double-winning 1997/98 campaign which heralded Wenger's first trophies in England - until the Petit's defection to Barcelona in 2000.

"He is a guy who plays naturally behind the ball, he is a bit similar to Petit in the way he plays football," Wenger said.

Mesut Ozil wheels away after scoring Arsenal's third (Getty)

"He likes to sit, give good long balls and be available with the centre-backs.

"We tried already in December last year (to sign him for the January window).

"He has a good engine, good stature, he is good in the air and has a good balance in his game. He has a good short ball and a good long ball.

"He is 24 years old, he has already experience abroad and (getting that) is always a problem. It is more reassuring when a player has already played abroad somewhere.

"He was captain at his age at Monchengladbach. That is not a small club, so he has leadership qualities."

Wenger defended his decision to bring in another midfielder despite Arsenal appearing more in need of reinforcements in other areas.

He added: "I did it because we lost three midfielders. We lost (Mikel) Arteta, (Tomas) Rosicky and (Mathieu) Flamini last year.

"We had many injuries and we have some uncertainties about longer-term injuries.

"We think that if you project a bit for a longer future, we have players close to 30, close to 20 and at the mid-range of 24, 25 we did not have many and I think it is important."

The Gunners, having previously claimed just one point from a possible six, arrived under pressure with perfect starts from both Manchester clubs and Chelsea having left them already playing catch-up.

This, then, was the ideal tonic – a promising performance and result, albeit against opponents they really should overpower – required heading into the international break.

The imminent arrivals of £50m-plus duo Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia and Lucas Perez from Deportivo La Coruna should go some way to appeasing fans frustrated by their slow start and Wenger’s seemingly continued reluctance to spend big on stellar additions.

At least those on the books delivered here. The combination of Ozil and Sanchez won the penalty converted early on by Cazorla.

Then Sanchez did enough to dispatch Theo Walcott’s pinpoint cross before Ozil’s bullet header from the Chile international’s cross.

Wenger continued: "This season, you know, in the Premier League everybody is strong.

"We have just to focus on the performances and try to improve. It is too early to speak about the Premier League."

A 57th minute debut goal from Hornets substitute Roberto Pereyra gave Walter Mazzarri’s side hope.

But ultimately it proved in vain as their wait for a maiden win of their own continues – placing their manager under scrutiny even at this early stage.

Arsenal's players celebrate following Santi Cazorla's goal (Getty)

Watford defender Younes Kaboul, who made his debut, said of the boss: "He’s learning and improving. He’s a manager with a lot of experience in Italy and has a new challenge here.

"He definitely gets his ideas across. It’s clear straight away what he wants. He can be very tough. He’s someone who really knows what he wants.

"The lesson for now is to be together and fight on the pitch, to bring our quality.

"It’s only three games into the season. The next two will be very important for us. The second-half showed what we can do. Let’s move on. We need to be more clinical maybe. That will be key."

Watford (3-5-2): Gomes 5; Kaboul 5, Prodl 5, Kabasele 5 (Janmaat 52, 6); Amrabat 5 (Success 77), Guedioura 6 (Pereyra 45, 7), Capoue 7, Behrami 6, Holebas 6; Deeney 6, Ighalo 6.

Subs not used: Pantilimon, Zuniga, Watson, Sinclair.

Booked: Prodl, Amrabat, Behrami, Holebas, Ighalo, Deeney

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech 8, Bellerin 7, Holding 7, Koscielny 7, Monreal 6 (Gibbs 74); Xhaka 7, Cazorla 8; Walcott 7, Ozil 7 (Wilshere 70, 5), Oxlade-Chamberlain 6 (Elneny 70, 6); Sanchez 7

Subs not used: Ospina, Chambers, Coquelin, Giroud

Booked: Wilshere

Referee: Kevin Friend

Attendance: 20,545