Swansea City vs. Arsenal: Score and Reaction from 2015 Premier League Match
Arsenal claimed a 3-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday as goals from Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell mean they stay level with leaders Manchester City at the head of the Premier League table.
The Gunners were slow to start, but a second-half upturn in their finishing helped them ease away from their Welsh hosts, aided by a controversial drop from Swansea stopper and ex-Gunner Lukasz Fabianski.
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It looked as though Arsenal might move clear at the top of the English order, but Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City side scored a late penalty to beat Norwich City 2-1 and keep up their pace at the top of the table.
An injury-ravaged Gunners lineup was missing Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, after they were hurt in the midweek defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, leaving Olivier Giroud to lead their line.
Arsene Wenger's side travelled to south Wales knowing that they needed a win if they were to keep pressure on the Citizens at the Premier League summit, and they opened with a hold over the pace of the fixture.
Arsenal almost paid the price for their negligence in defence after Jonjo Shelvey caught Per Mertesacker napping to unleash Bafetimbi Gomis, who outwitted Laurent Koscielny's attempt at playing the offside trap.
The Swans' French frontman was in acres of space bearing down on Petr Cech's goal, but he took too long in his one-on-one, as Hector Bellerin was given enough time to get back and clear what should have been the opener.
Bellerin's race back into position was another entertaining display of the pace he possesses, prompting Eurosport to illustrate just how quick the right-back has shown himself to be of late:
Joel Campbell—filling in for Walcott on the right wing—showed glimpses of his best and was one of Arsenal's most positive attackers at times, but Giroud lacked a calm touch in front of goal.
Monk's men perhaps should have fallen behind to one of the several open chances the France international received, but Swansea were let off the hook before heading in at half-time.
There was a scare for the Gunners just prior to the break as Giroud went down clutching his left knee under the weight of a heavy challenge, but he made his way back out for the second period, with Wenger desperate not to see his squad damaged further.
How happy the north Londoners were that Giroud remained on the pitch, too, after he escaped Ashley Williams' marking to head home a Mesut Ozil corner in the 48th minute.
Despite losing his place as automatic first-choice, Giroud has been in potent form of late, per the BBC's John Bennett:
The Swans continued to threaten and might have equalised swiftly were Andre Ayew not flagged for a lazy offside run, but the home team never looked like rolling over in defeat at one goal down.
The same couldn't be said for a two-goal deficit, though, and Fabianski was found wanting against his former club after allowing Koscielny to double the visitors' lead with a calamitous error.
The Poland international came off his line and bundled over an Arsenal attacker in an attempt to claim the ball, but it bobbled in front of the lurking Koscielny, who tapped in from all of seven yards.
ESPN FC's Miguel Delaney thought the Swansea No. 1 had a case for obstruction, but referee Kevin Friend allowed the goal to stand and put a result that much further from the home side's reach:
Campbell added the icing on the cake in his first start of the Premier League season, topping off an impressive display with a goal that allowed Arsenal to coast for the remaining quarter-of-an-hour.
Another Premier League win serves as the ideal result Arsenal could have hoped for, as they prepare to travel to Bayern Munich on Wednesday and rescue their Champions League hopes.
In particular, the Gunners must hope Giroud can maintain his recent glut of scoring form, with Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain set to miss out on the European clash.
Elsewhere, Swansea City can only hope things turn around quickly after suffering a fifth defeat in their last eight games, having last won a match all the way back in August.
Post-Match Reaction
With a fifth league win in succession, Arsenal's rise to the top of the Premier League order has been sustained for now, despite a list of injury setbacks and defeats in other competitions.
His side now sit 11 points above reigning champions Chelsea, who lost 3-1 at home to Liverpool earlier on Saturday, but when asked to comment on that result, Wenger declined to comment, per Squawka:
Were it not for Fabianski's mistake to gift Koscielny Arsenal's second, we could be looking at a very different result at the Emirates Stadium, where the Gunners ultimately made things look easy.
However, Monk wasn't willing to take the defeat easily and believed his side performed better than the three-goal margin suggested:
Wenger's insistence on concentrating solely on his club's efforts is far from surprising, but he's sure to be savouring the distance separating his men from Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
