Arsenal: Sputtering Gunners Squeak Past Lowly Huddersfield Town

It was a match between the Premier League’s rock-bottom side and one fighting for a Champions League spot. But when Arsenal are involved, especially in an away match, there just aren’t any certainties.

Arsenal Football Club and playing away from home go together like water and oil, or diet coke and mentos – they simply don’t mix, and sometimes might even cause an explosion, particularly amongst the fanbase. With Huddersfield Town not scoring a single goal in their last 8-and-a-half hours of football though, this was a very winnable away match for Arsenal, who in turn have not kept a single clean sheet away from home all season.

The match started in Arsenal’s favour, as you’d expect. With many star names missing from the matchday squad such as Xhaka, Aubameyang, Ramsey, and Ozil, Arsenal turned to Iwobi and Mkhitaryan to conjure up the attacking quality. Although the pair are inconsistent and not particularly Arsenal-level performers, they put in a decent shift on this day. Iwobi opened the scoring after Kolasinac’s booming cross-field ball found the Nigerian for a volley, although the goalkeeper Ben Hamer made a crucial error in his judgement.

The 2nd goal, and definitely the most crucial one, came on the stroke of half-time through the player you would expect – Alexandre Lacazette – who has been in fine form over the past few months. His delightful finish meant the Gunners headed to the dressing room with a 2-0 lead.

The 2nd half was a strange one, with Arsenal sitting back and inviting pressure onto themselves against a side who simply can’t score.

Listen. Arsenal’s defence is quite poor, so the ideal way to minimize their relevance in the match is to retain the ball right? Well apparently Unai Emery didn’t think so, as his side sat back throughout the entire 2nd half, hardly producing any sort of ball retention and struggling to clear their lines. If someone who had never watched football before turned on that 2nd half, they would’ve guessed that Arsenal were the relegation fodders, not Huddersfield.

In a tight race for top 4, there is a chance that Arsenal’s fate could come down to goal difference at the end of the season. So why not try and take full advantage of the weakest opposition you will face in the league this year, and go for their throats in the 2nd half? Instead, chances upon chances fell to Huddersfield, who eventually scored their first goal in 10 hours of football courtesy of a Sead Kolasinac own goal right at the death. If the Terriers were more clinical, they could have had a point, or maybe even 3.

It was a poor performance from the Gunners, who once again failed to keep a clean sheet. The 3 points is what matters most though, and they can’t afford to fall behind United & Chelsea. Huddersfield will be happy with their performance and especially their goal, but relegation seems a certain end-point now, as they sit a whopping 13 points from safety.