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SOMEHOW, Arsenal managed to set a record in English football by getting three players booked for diving in a single match.
In a restless, spiteful game – which they deserved to win – Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Matteo Guendouzi’s issues with gravity tainted the Gunners’ 21-match unbeaten run.
Match of the Day pundits Ian Wright and Martin Keown were so embarrassed by their old club’s unprecedented hat-trick of yellow cards they did not venture a single excuse for Arsenal’s fall guys.
After a frustrating spectacle littered with 33 fouls and nine bookings, Gunners manager Unai Emery said: “I don’t want simulation from players. I want more rhythm in the match.”
Tick
There has been much to admire about Arsenal’s longest unbeaten run since 2007, not least Emery’s happy knack of making bold and match-turning substitutions.
And it was fitting that Lucas Torreira, the best player on the pitch, settled it with a nifty bicyclekick seven minutes from time.
Even at £26.4m, Torreira is one of the bargains of the season so far. He makes Arsenal tick like a conductor calls the tune in an orchestra.
But when Huddersfield’s spoilers threatened to abscond from the Emirates with a point, too often the Gunners resorted to dark arts best left in the shadows.
Come on, Arsenal.
It is an extraordinary feat to have three players on the same side pulled up for diving in the same game.
The north London club can have few complaints that previous opponents
Wilfried Zaha and Heung-min Son were awarded contentious penalties after tiny contact if they are going to pull the same trick.
Xhaka’s improvement has been a gratifying aspect of the club’s resurgence under Emery.
But if he is going to wear the captain’s armband he must get rid of the yellow cards for diving.
In Mustafi’s case, at least there was contact when he went down in the box under Laurent Depoitre’s pressure, but was it forceful enough to warrant a penalty?
Only if you think an articulated lorry can get bumped off the road by a moped.
Sorry, but Mustafi would have been outraged if he was penalised for a similar challenge at the other end.
And Guendouzi’s abundant promise will soon fade into notoriety if he repeats his unassisted fall without Aaron Mooy’s intervention.
Emery’s side are on a formidable run and there is no shame in grinding out three points when the going is heavy.
This was nowhere near the throbbing intensity apparent in the win over Tottenham last week, but at home the Gunners have shown they can win pretty or gritty.
Huddersfield players stayed down in London for their Christmas party afterwards. And Terriers defender Mathias Jorgensen said: “For us it’s important to spend time together to get that team bonding.”