Arsenal 2-1 Huddersfield Town

Arsenal scraped through to the last 16 of the Cup, with an unimpressive victory over the League 1 side. Once again a late Fabregas penalty decided the result, except this time we progress to the next round without the need of a replay. Arsenal struggled to impress especially in the 2nd half when we had to play with ten men due to the Squillaci sending off. Wenger made some interesting team selections, which included the return of Manuel Almunia. The majority of Gunners thought they had seen the last of the Spaniard but that doesn't seem to be the case just yet. Squillaci and Diaby also returned from injury and Bendtner kept his place on the right wing. This gave some key players a rest, including Johan Djourou and Robin Van Persie, who will return on Tuesday night for the Everton game.

Bendtner scoring the opener?

 Arsenal started the game quite brightly but were wasteful with their chances until Bendtner scored in the 21st minute. There is some debate as to whether the goal should be Bendtner's as his shot appeared to be off target until it took a big deflection. None the less the Dane will definitely take it as his goal. Later in the first half Samir Nasri pulled up with a hamstring injury. It looks like he will be out for three weeks which means he will miss the Barcelona tie, which is a huge loss for the Arsenal. He was replaced by Tomas Rosicky who also had just come back from illness. Wenger had wanted to play Tomas from the start but he wasn't ready for 90 minutes, but was forced into action when Samir injured his hamstring. Three minutes before half time, Jack Hunt went on a brilliant run from right back, and was blocked off by Sebastien Squillaci who was the last defender. It was a clear sending off and Squillaci will be disappointed with himself getting sent off after just returning from injury.

Not what the Arsenal fans wanted to see.

 As the second half began Huddersfield Town appeared to be inspired by having the extra man and put Arsenal under serious pressure. In contrast Arsenal were very poor for the majority of the second half. Tomas Rosicky was the only player, playing well at the start of the second half and Eboue and Denilson were very poor. Arsenal were giving the ball away constantly and couldn't appear to string more than two passes together. The players didn't seem to be putting the effort in and Kieran Gibbs looked far from his best at left back. It was from a set piece that Huddersfield Town equalised in the 66th minute of the game. Manuel Almunia didn't seem to have a clue what he was doing as he stood on the edge of the 6 yard box and then moved back to the goal line deciding not to catch the ball. This decision cost Arsenal and is why he is no longer the Number 1.

 Wenger decided to use our final substitution to bring on the captain Fabregas. He immediately made the difference and Arsenal looked far more dangerous with him playing in the middle. In the 86th minute Nicklas Bendtner won a penalty as he was denied a goal-scoring opportunity. However the ref saw it differently and only gave a yellow which makes no sense after the Squillaci red card in the first half. The Spaniard took the penalty confidently and never looked like he was going to miss. It takes Arsenal into the next round where we will have to play at Leyton Orient. It is another a League 1 side, but away from home it will be very different to this tie.

Cesc scores the winner once again.

 The downside of this victory, wasn't just the poor team performance but the injuries to Samir Nasri and Denilson. It looks like Samir will be out for 3 weeks which is a huge loss for Arsenal. It also means Andrey really needs to pick his game up as he is the likely replacement for the Frenchman. He was poor again today and needs to regain form sharply. Arsenal didn't really deserve the victory today, but in the end they managed to grind out a result with only ten men. This shows a strong spirit throughout the side, as at 1-1 an Arsenal side of previous years wouldn't of scored the vital winner. It was positive to have players returning from injury such as Abou Diaby, who could have a large role to play towards the end of the season. Arsenal face Everton on Tuesday, not leaving them much time between these games, but players like Van Persie didn't feature and will therefore be ready for the Everton game.