Swansea vs. Arsenal: EPL 2011/2012 Arsenal Second Best in Swansea Thriller

Swansea pulled off the result of their season so far with a 3-2 victory over Arsenal at Liberty Stadium.

Robin van Persie gave the visitors the lead early on but the home side responded strongly. Nathan Dyer inspired Swansea's revival when he was fouled in the box by Aaron Ramsey. Scott Sinclair stepped up to equalise from the spot.

In the second half, Arsenal came out all guns blazing only for Swansea to gain the lead through Dyer's fierce strike past Wojciech Szczesny. Thierry Henry was brought on for his second Premier League debut, but it was Theo Walcott who brought the Gunners level when the home defence lost its shape.

However, Danny Graham grabbed all the headlines when Swansea responded instantly after a lapse of concentration by Arsene Wenger's men. Graham scored the winner in a pulsating encounter, and Arsenal lost ground for the top four spot.

Swansea's home stadium was full to witness one of the shock of this weekend's matches. Arsene Wenger spoke of his admiration for Andrei Arshavin and insisted the Russian lacked confidence, but needed games to play.

Arshavin started the game brightly with a brilliant pass to unleash van Persie, who made no mistake to give the away team the lead. Home crowd silenced, for a brief moment.

But then Swansea started to pass the ball. Nathan Dyer caused all sorts of problems with his pace and trickery. Something Walcott should take notice. Dyer surged into the area and turned, Ramsey appeared to catch him, down he went. Penalty said the referee. Sinclair placed the ball into the net without any problems.

After halftime, Arsenal came out on the attack. Arshavin had a good chance, blazed well over the bar. Swansea started pressing high up the pitch. Arshavin who was having a pretty bad game to say the least gave the ball away. The ball found its way to Dyer who smashed it beyond a helpless Arsenal keeper.

Arsene Wenger brought Henry and Rosicky. Off went Arshavin and Benayoun. Henry almost made the perfect contribution when he headed goalwards. The ball took a deflection and looped over the crossbar. From the resulting corner, Mertersacker missed an absolute sitter, as he mis-kicked the ball well wide when about two yards away from the goal line.

Arsenal kept the ball, and as the home team pressed, their back line had a shocker for a moment that was costly. Song found Walcott on the run towards goal, away from everyone and the winger chipped the ball expertly into the net. 2-2!

It was the only contribution from Walcott who struggled to impede his presence in the game. He was much better in the second half but many fans would argue that Chamberlain is ready to start ahead of Walcott.

Arsenal were still celebrating in their minds. A loss of focus and Koscielny was racing against Graham for the ball. The Arsenal keeper rushed out to close the angle, but the former Watford striker finished into the corner to grab the headlines.

Swansea continue their fairy tale start at the top, whilst Arsenal's top four challenge took a shocking setback. The Gunners have been down and came back before earlier this season, can they do it again?

Arshavin and Walcott the most disappointed players, but many could have joined the list. Arsene Wenger may need to add to his defenders with fresh blood, he might want to look at a new attacking option too. Gervinho was clearly missed tonight, and he's only just left for the African Nations Cup. 

Fans would argue that Chamberlain should start more games, and maybe give Park a chance to impress. Either wise, we will never know if the Korean international has what it takes to play in the Premier League. His international record speaks for itself; 23 goals in 53 appearances. Surely that's worth a proper run of games.