Arsenal 2-1 Huddersfield P Clarke (og) 21 Lee 66
Fabregas (pen) 86
Arsenal luckily reached the fifth round of the FA Cup after narrowly overcoming League One Huddersfield at the Emirates.
The Gunners played 48 minutes with ten men after the dismissal of centre-back Sebastien Squillaci for a bodycheck on a goalbound Jack Hunt. They led at that stage by an Peter Clarke own goal but the Terriers drew level in the second half before a controversial late penalty saw Arsenal home. Arsenal had the better of the opening quarter with Nicklas Bendtner and Andrei Arshavin wasting decent chances before they went ahead on 21 minutes, Bendtner’s off-target shot deflecting over Huddersfield keeper Ian Bennett. The visitors came more into the game with Anthony Pilkington’s 39th-minute header flying inches wide. And Arsenal suffered a double blow, losing midfielder Samir Nasri to a hamstring injury on 31 minutes before Squillachi’s red card. Gunners’ goalkeeper Manuel Almunia produced a wonder save to keep out Alan Lee’s 62nd-minute header. But he could do nothing four minutes later when Lee powered home Pilkington’s right-wing corner. The decisive moment came on 86 minutes when Bendtner fell under the slightest touch from the Terriers’ Jamie McCombe and substitute Cesc Fabregas sent Bennett the wrong way from the spot.
Tags: Arsenal, FA Cup, Huddersfield, Gunners, Cesc Fabregas Posted: |
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