By the time Huddersfield Town midfielder Dean Whitehead had been substituted on to the Emirates field in the 78th minute, the damage had already been done. The Terriers found themselves trailing 4-0 and Arsenal added a fifth late on.
A period of madness for David Wagner’s usually solid defence saw The Gunners score goals from Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil all within four minutes.
This effectively sealed the game for Arsenal after Alexandre Lacazette had already opened the scoring in the 3rd minute. However, Arsene Wenger’s men did go on to add a fifth in the 87th minute through Giroud.
Huddersfield failed to take their chances
Huddersfield have failed to score an away goal since August, a worrying statistic for Wagner’s men, and Whitehead said after the game: “we had our chances and we had our moments on the break.”
And they certainly did, as Collin Quaner had chances either side of half-time to level the score. 35-year-old Whitehead did, however, also say: “you have to be clinical at these grounds to put them under pressure.”
Arsenal made Huddersfield pay
On the other hand, Arsenal did take their chances: “we couldn’t find the goal and they’ve got quality all over the pitch,” said Whitehead. Referring to The Gunners’ three goals in four minutes, the English midfielder conceded: “they took us apart a little bit.”
Whitehead believes this is a trait Huddersfield need to pick up on, saying: “when you have moments in the match you need to put one away.”
Looking forward to the Everton game
After two tough games Town must now focus their attention to playing Everton, who have recently appointed Sam Allardyce as their new manager. Whitehead says: “we will leave this game behind us but there’s positives we can take.”