ARSENAL ON A HIGH!
It’s hip, hippy, hooray for the Gunners party boys as Torreira cracks Town
NO ‘hippy crack’ required for Arsenal to get high yesterday. The euphoria of victory to extend their unbeaten run to 21 games was entirely natural.
In a week when Arsenal’s players’ conduct was called into question after a number of their most high-profile stars were caught inhaling the dangerous — but legal — nitrous oxide, Unai Emery’s side conjured an emphatic response.
For so long, Huddersfield looked like they would leave London with a point — indeed David Wagner’s side deserve credit for this resolute display. But, in the end, 5ft 5in midfielder Lucas Torreira, Arsenal’s new snarling enforcer, jumped high enough to fire home a spectacular overhead kick to bolster Arsenal’s top-four credentials.
That said, Arsenal were unrecognisable from their last outing at the Emirates when they ruthlessly dispatched Tottenham in the north London derby. Emery’s men oozed intensity that day, their showing against the Terriers was far less eye-catching. That won’t concern Emery one iota, however. Getting Arsenal back into the Champions League is all he is worried about. However, he will have some anxiety about Arsenal’s emerging defensive injury crisis. News that Rob Holding will miss the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury was compounded yesterday after Shkodran Mustafi limped off with a hamstring injury while Sokratis accumulated his fifth booking of the season to earn a one-match suspension.
That leaves Laurent Koscielny – who hasn’t played a Premier League game since May – as the club’s only senior centre-half ahead of Sunday’s visit to Southampton.
Koscielny was named on the bench for the first time in the league this season yesterday after recovering from the ruptured achilles he suffered against Atletico Madrid on May 3 while Nacho Monreal was a substitute for the first time since injuring a hamstring at the start of October.
Those defensive reinforcements could not have come at a handier time for Emery after losing Mustafi and Sokratis for the trip to St Mary’s. Yet, the fact Emery was at a loss to answer quite how he will solve his central defensive dilemma next week merely served to amplify those concerns. Not that either side required a defence the way this encounter started. It was subdued to say the least.
Eventually, the Gunners shifted though the gears, carving out two clear chances in quick succession. First, in the 28th minute, PierreEmerick Aubameyang prodded wide from close range after Granit Xhaka’s dangerous low ball into the box. A minute later, Alexandre Lacazette was the guilty party, ballooning over from 12 yards after slipping at the vital moment.
Finally there was signs of life from Arsenal and also from Town midfielder Danny Williams who was perhaps lucky to stay on after going through the back of Torreira to spark a flurry of yellow cards in the closing minutes of the first half.
Tommy Smith and Sokratis were equally as lucky after entering the book following similarly robust, and high, challenges. Following the lethargic opening, the game exploded into action and both sides
could easily have gone in ahead at half-time. Lacazette had the ball in the net in the 42nd minute, latching on to Mathias Jorgensen’s loose back pass but the effort was ruled out for offside much to Emery’s obvious disbelief.
The Gunners striker was slightly offside when Aubameyang flicked on Bernd Leno’s long punt but Arsenal appeared to be remonstrating that Jorgensen’s touch negated the original ruling.
As Arsenal stewed, Huddersfield should have taken the lead as Alex Pritchard fired over from deep inside the area before Jonas Lossl produced an excellent save to deny Torreira’s long-ranger.
That wasn’t the end of the firsthalf drama, though. Mustafi picked up his fifth booking of the season for diving in the area meaning that even if he does make a miraculous recovery for next weekend he would be unavailable for selection due to suspension.
Arsenal’s frustration was laid bare at half-time with boos – directed at the officials for disallowing Lacazette’s seemingly legitimate goal – ringing round the stadium. Xhaka continued his remonstrations with referee Paul Tierney after the whistle, Mustafi took his anger out on fourth official Stuart Attwell and Huddersfield coach Andrew Hughes as he steamed down the tunnel.
Like the win over Spurs, when they were 2-1 down at the break, Emery responded with a double substitution at half-time – Alex Iwobi replacing Stephan Lichtsteiner and Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming on for Lacazette.
But Huddersfield were in no mood to relent and could have been awarded a 58th-minute penalty when Pritchard fell, albeit rather theatrically, under a challenge form Hector Bellerin.
Matteo Guendouzi was booked in the 80th minute for simulation as Arsenal’s desperation became all too apparent. But, just as it looked like their afternoon would end in frustration, Torreira popped up with his acrobatic late winner from Aubameyang’s lofted cross.