THE GAME
AHamer 5; Smith 6, Jorgensen 6, Schindler 6, Kongolo 6 (Durm (56th) 6); Hogg 7, Mooy 7, Bacuna 7, Puncheon 7 (Depoitre (66th) 7) Diakhaby 8; Kachunga 7 (Grant 83rd) Leno 7; Maitland-Niles 8, Koscielny 7, Mustafi 6, Monreal 7; Torreira 6 (Elneny (59th) 6), Guendouzi 6, Kolasinac 7, Mkhitaryan 7 (Suarez 76th), Iwobi 7 (Willock 87th), Lacazette 7 Ainsley Maitland-Niles J Moss Newcastle (A), Feb 23 BATE Borisov (A), Feb 14
AT THE place where Arsene Wenger said his farewells to Arsenal his successor Unai Emery effectively waved goodbye to Huddersfield’s chances of another season in the big time.
There was no sentiment, no misty-eyed condolences – this was a clinical demolition of any lingering ambitions the Terriers held in avoiding the dreaded drop into the Championship. “We are going down,” sang the home fans in the knowledge that their great adventure is coming to an end.
For Emery, the Arsenal journey is only beginning. Except for a big fall-out with Neymar, the Spaniard could now have been preparing for a Champions League clash with Manchester United.
Instead, for the ex-Paris Saint-Germain coach it was off to the John Smith’s Stadium in an attempt to place the Gunners’ season back on track after falling behind in their own pursuit of a Champions League place. While Huddersfield under their own new boss Jan Siewert provided the entertainment with plenty of goalmouth action which belied their lowly status, the Gunners supplied the firepower.
The Yorkshire spirit which rescued them so dramatically last season was again in evidence – so is the incriminating statistic surrounding their lack of goals. Thanks to a goal in added-on time – which gave the scoreline a more realistic look – it’s now just 14 so far this term.
It’s becoming so grim that they are thinking in these parts of introducing a month of the goal competition.
At times as Huddersfield pressed their foot down on the accelerator with the speedy Adama Diakhaby a constant source of danger, Arsenal were on thin ice and looked like a nervy side who arrived on the back of four defeats on their last five travels.
Their fall from grace from the days of winning the Premier League is illustrated by Thursday’s trip to BATE Borisov in the Europa League – not exactly an ideal Valentine’s Day date. It’s why despite his side looking disjointed Emery’s mission is to somehow chisel out a top-four finish.
“Our target is to get in to the top four,” he said. “This win can give us confidence. There is a point difference between Manchester United and us. If we ask is it easy or difficult to finish in the top four then, of course, it’s difficult.
“But we can achieve what we want. After game 26 we are on our way. Our motivation is great. We need to be consistent over the remaining games and then our target will come closer. “This win takes us closer to the others in the top four and now it’s the Europa League on Thursday then in two weeks it’s Southampton at home. These two games are my focus.”
The Gunners took a 15th-minute lead – the goal owing to a touch of fortune off Huddersfield defender Terence Kongolo. Sead Kolasinac advanced down the left flank and his deep cross was met on the volley by Alex Iwobi, the ball catching Kongolo’s heel and curling past Ben Hamer.
Huddersfield had strong claims for a penalty through a vicious drive from Jason Puncheon which struck Laurent Koscielny’s hand although the Frenchman will claim with some justification that he was protecting his crown jewels.
Rooted to the bottom of the table, Huddersfield never lost heart and Siewert said: “I will fight to the end with my lads to stay in the Premier League. They made me so proud.
“We gave everything for our fans, for everyone at the club. I always tell the players the fight comes first then the luck.” Arsenal increased their lead just before the break when Alexandre Lacazette tapped in from Iwobi’s set up after he had broken clear thanks to Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s intelligent pass. Huddersfield carved out chance after chance with Diakhaby twice being denied by Bernd Leno while new boy Karian Grant from Charlton had an effort cleared off the line by Nacho Monreal.
They finally broke through in added time, Diakhaby flicking a through ball over Leno only for Kolasinac under pressure to slice his clearance into his own net.