LONDON, January 30- Ten-man Arsenal needed a late Cesc Fabregas penalty to overcome plucky Huddersfield 2-1 and advance to the last 16 of the FA Cup here Sunday.<\/p>\n
Second-half substitute Fabregas scored from the spot on 86 minutes after League One side Huddersfield had fought back bravely from 1-0 down to level.<\/p>\n
Fabregas’s winner came after Terriers defender Jamie McCombe flattened Nicklas Bendtner in the area.<\/p>\n
The Gunners, who had Sebastien Squillaci sent off just before half-time, had earlier taken the lead through a Peter Clarke own goal on 22 minutes.<\/p>\n
Huddersfield hit back through an Alan Lee header on 66 minutes to leave Arsenal facing the unwelcome prospect of a fourth round replay.<\/p>\n
Arsenal looked comfortable early on, moving the ball around with ease and carving out a string of opportunities.<\/p>\n
Andrei Arshavin rattled the woodwork after a quarter of an hour before Clarke’s own goal gave Arsenal the lead.<\/p>\n
Marouane Chamakh released Bendtner and the Danish striker’s angled shot was heading wide until Clarke slid in to deflect it into his own net.<\/p>\n
Huddersfield hauled themselves back into the match however and shortly before half-time were given a huge boost when Jack Hunt was body-checked by Squillaci as he burst clear of the Arsenal defence.<\/p>\n
Referee Mark Clattenburg did not hesitate to produce a red card and Arsenal were suddenly down to 10 men.<\/p>\n
With nothing to lose, Huddersfield started the second half positively and had a jittery Arsenal on the back foot for long periods.<\/p>\n
Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia made a superb save to deny Lee’s header, and from the resulting corner Huddersfield went close again through a Joey Gudjonsson shot.<\/p>\n
On 66 minutes, Huddersfield’s pressure paid off, Lee leaping high to head home Anthony Pilkington’s corner.<\/p>\n
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger responded by substituting the ineffectual Abou Diaby by Fabregas, and the Gunners immediately looked more threatening.<\/p>\n
And with a replay looming, Fabregas kept his cool from the spot to fire Arsenal into the last 16.<\/p>\n
Arsenal’s match was one of five fourth round fixtures on Sunday. Wolves were playing Stoke at Molineux, while Notts County faced Manchester City and West Ham entertain Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n
Fulham face Tottenham in the late kick-off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON, January 30- Ten-man Arsenal needed a late Cesc Fabregas penalty to overcome plucky Huddersfield 2-1 and advance to the last 16 of the FA Cup here Sunday. Second-half substitute Fabregas scored from the spot on 86 minutes after League One side Huddersfield had fought back bravely from 1-0 down to level. Fabregas’s winner came […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12319,"featured_media":11339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-premiership"],"yoast_head":"\n