Granit Xhaka hailed a “perfect week” for Arsenal after their 1-0 victory over Huddersfield maintained their pursuit of a top-three finish.
Despite struggling for their usual fluidity and having a first-half goal from Alexandre Lacazette disallowed, Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 21 matches with Lucas Torreira’s 83rd-minute finish.
Last Sunday, they defeated bitters rivals Tottenham 4-2 and on Wednesday they went to Old Trafford where they drew 2-2 with Manchester United.
At the conclusion of a period in which there were reports of the players partying and inhaling nitrous oxide, such a run of fixtures could have proven more damaging, but Xhaka told the club’s website: “It was a perfect week for us. We started away in Bournemouth (winning 2-1 on November 25), and after we had Tottenham at home and United away, and again (Huddersfield).
“Four games and 10 points is a perfect week for us.
“We can still improve and we’re still working a lot. We have a lot of things to improve and do better, but we can be happy. It’s not normal that we are 21 games unbeaten, but we have a good team, a good spirit and this is what’s most important. We will keep going like this.
“It was a difficult game and Huddersfield played the whole game one against one, so it was difficult against them and we knew that before. One-nil and three points is the most important thing for us.”
Discussing matchwinner Torreira, Xhaka added: “He wants to be like Auba and Laca (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lacazette). It’s an important goal for him and a great game for all of the team.”
Having shown signs of improvement, Huddersfield remain in the bottom three following successive defeats by Brighton, Bournemouth and Arsenal.
The next two fixtures, against Newcastle and Southampton, who are also battling relegation, could therefore prove crucial, and their manager David Wagner said: “Now we have two home games against Newcastle and Southampton.
“You have to play every opponent twice in a season, though, so the table at this stage is irrelevant.
“It is all about performances, and we have shown strong performances consistently in recent weeks and this is what we are focused on.
“Unfortunately we haven’t got the results which maybe we have deserved, but we will only get results if we perform.”