You know Arsenal have been dominant in victory when Arsene Wenger’s post-match comments include praising Mesut Ozil’s ability to ‘fight’. And yet, perhaps this time the side’s spirit did come to the fore.
At half-time, the Gunners were leading on the scoresheet thanks to Alexandre Lacazette’s early strike, but it was far from one-way traffic: indeed, Huddersfield looked the more likely to score until the whistle went. It was only after Olivier Giroud struck with 25 minutes or so remaining that the floodgates finally opened, and when Ozil started to run the show.
But when Ozil or Alexis Sanchez shine, that’s when others get overlooked. And Wednesday night was one of those games.
Although Ozil was the attacking threat that finally broke the Huddersfield resistance, Granit Xhaka – a player who has come in for severe criticism at times this season – posted some worthy stats, and his all-round contribution to this Arsenal performance was very important indeed.
Firstly, it’s worth remembering that Arsenal struggled at times in the first half, but when your team is suffering, that’s when grit and quality have to come to the fore. Making a creditable three tackles and two clearances, the Swiss international dug in for his team, helping the back three behind him during a game when he might have expected to be looking forwards rather than backwards. And facing a team who managed just under 30% of the possession, that’s quite a big defensive contribution.
His all-round contribution was excellent, however. No player on the pitch had as many touches as Xhaka, nor did any other participant play as many passes. Indeed, despite his huge involvement in the game, he was rarely wasteful, too: his 91% pass accuracy could only be matched by the Gunners’ defence, who played as a back three and were able to play much safer passes. In attack, too, the Arsenal midfielder was hugely involved, taking four shots, bettered only by Olivier Giroud.
It’s rare for a player to be so heavily involved back to front in a game, and despite the scoreline and the masterclass from Ozil, it should be noted that this game wasn’t a foregone conclusion for Arsenal until midway through the second half. And because of that, Xhaka’s performance should be highly praised.
