Arsenal beat Huddersfield at the John Smith’s Stadium 2-1 today, but the scoreline does not tell the entire story.
The hosts are very much the underdogs on paper, but refused to play as such as they piled ample pressure on our side. Terrier’s fans who watched the match will be proud of the display put on show by their side despite the result, and more performances like this will give their side a chance of making it out the relegation zone.
According to the stats, the home side had more possession, the majority of the corners as well as having the ball in our final third more than any other place on the pitch, but Bernd Leno and his back five did their jobs today, and may possibly even have had some luck on their side also.
Regardless of this, the better side, at least the more clinical side, has come away with all the points.
Alexandre Lacazette no doubt comes away smelling of roses after two comfortable goals, with Alex Iwobi and Ashley Maitland-Niles claiming the assists, while Sead Kolasinac gets his mention but not for all the right reasons. He put in a sturdy performance in what turned out to be a shaky match, but he gets the credit for an own goal in the dying minutes of the match.
Luckily enough there was no time for the home side to try and level the game after the goal, but they will be disappointed by their finishing, with our defence failing to show any real organisation. Had our opponents been clinical in front of goal they would have actually won this game, and Emery may rue the failings in the transfer window for not bringing in a player who could give us that protection.
I’ll take the three points, but in too many displays of late, our defence hasn’t been good enough. Our lack of clean sheets in the entire campaign should ring enough alarm bells, and these problems need addressing. A back five may not necessarily be the answer to that.
Is it the squad or the team selection which is giving us such problems at the back? I’m not sure a fully fit squad is too much better…
Pat J