The German was at his brilliant best a day after his boss announced that he and Alexis Sanchez would not be sold in January.

Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal an early lead before Ozil killed off Huddersfield setting up Olivier Giroud and Sanchez before scoring himself. Giroud then added a fifth.

Arsene Wenger had opted to play a strong side with Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez all starting.

But opposite number David Wagner opted to make six changes to his Huddersfield side for the Terriers’ first match with the Gunners since January 1972. It was a decision that will take some defending, suggesting that the visitors were prioritising other fixtures.

And Arsenal duly made their point within three minutes with a lovely goal. Granit Xhaka’s pass was flicked into the path of Lacazette by Aaron Ramsey and the Frenchman made no mistake with the left-footed finish for his seventh goal of the season.

But Lacazette was later ruled out of Arsenal's weekend clash with Manchester United.

"It is an injury, it looked like a groin injury so he might be out for a while,” said Wenger.

Arsenal pressed for further goals with Aaron Ramsey’s snap shot going just over, while at the other end Mathias Jorgensen headed over from Chris Lowe’s free-kick.

The pre-match talk centred on Wenger insisting that contract rebels Ozil and Sanchez would both stay for the rest of the season but it was Lacazette who was offering the major threat.

It should have been 2-0 when his effort from an acute angle was brilliantly cleared off the line by Martin Cranie with Sead Kolasinac unable to convert the rebound.

The Gunners were in complete control but there were warning signs as Shkodran Mustafi tangled with Steve Mounie in the area but no penalty given, while Colin Quaner was denied by a last-ditch Laurent Koscielny tackle after bursting through.

Lacazette failed to re-appear for the start of the second half with Giroud coming on in his place and any kind of injury would put his participation for the clash against Manchester United on Saturday in doubt.

Huddersfield looked to take advantage with Quaner denied by an impressive Petr Cech save before the Arsenal keeper attempted to punch a clearance but the effort came off the bar.

Giroud then hit the post after rounding Lossl as the Emirates started to get a little restless. Arsenal fans need not have worried though thanks to the late Mesut Ozil show.

First he exchanged passes with Sanchez before setting up Giroud in the 68th minute. A minute later the brilliant German crossed right-footed for Sanchez to score.

And in the 72nd minute he scored his own deserved goal, coolly finishing from Ramsey’s through ball.

Giroud then scored his second of the night converting the loose ball after fine play by Kolasinac three minutes from time.

And while Arsenal celebrated a routine win, Wenger will no doubt be already working on how to deal with Lacazette’s absence this weekend.