Swansea City vs. Arsenal: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Arsenal exacted revenge for a troubling loss to Swansea City in November 2014 by beating them 3-0 at the same stadium on Saturday, just under one year on.
A drab first half gave way to a thrilling second, in which Olivier Giroud opened the scoring with a good header from a corner, Laurent Koscielny made it two after a tussle with the goalkeeper, and Joel Campbell wrapped things up with a neat back-post finish.
Here, B/R picks its winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Hector Bellerin, Arsenal
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Hector Bellerin vs. Jefferson Montero was an intriguing individual battle that lived up to its pre-match billing.
Montero, the man who single-handedly tore Calum Chambers and Arsenal to shreds last season during Swansea’s 2-1 victory at the same stadium, got the better of Bellerin early on during the battle for the flank, but couldn’t quite find the end-product to compound the advantage.
Bellerin got better and better as he settled, and he produced two stunning individual moments of his own. The first was to deny Bafetimbi Gomis after racing back to cover, and the second was to prevent Andre Ayew tapping home—racing across the goal line, clearing the effort and nearly impaling himself on the post in the process.
Loser: Bafetimbi Gomis, Swansea City
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Bafetimbi Gomis hasn’t scored since August, and this fact is clearly playing on his mind.
Sent through one-on-one with Petr Cech by a great Jonjo Shelvey pass, he stumbled and hesitated, allowing Arsenal’s defenders to stream back and help their goalkeeper save the eventual shot. It was great work by Hector Bellerin racing back, but Gomis should have strolled through and slotted home.
He has now failed to score in eight consecutive games.
Winner: Olivier Giroud, Arsenal
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Olivier Giroud scored the 2,000th goal of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal reign, per the Mirror, by nodding home a good Mesut Ozil corner early in the second half.
The Frenchman stepped up to the plate once again when called on, replacing the injured Theo Walcott up front, and scored a crucial goal that turned the tide in his side’s favour and gave them a platform for victory.
Having gone down in the first half with a knee injury that looked quite painful, the second-half response became all the more impressive.
Loser: Garry Monk, Swansea City
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Rightly or wrongly, despite the great job Garry Monk has done at Swansea City since taking over from Michael Laudrup, he’s been questioned in recent weeks and placed on the hot seat. Per Wales Online, reports have suggested the club’s hierarchy want to bring a more experienced coach in to work alongside the rookie manager.
This result won’t help his cause.
“I think 3-0 flatters Arsenal,” he told reporters after the game, per ESPN FC’s Miguel Delaney. They don’t deserve to win 3-0 at all. Hard one because a lot of positives for us...but we lost.”
Expectations are high after a summer of recruiting excellent players, so Monk is understandably under pressure due to a run of one win in eight games.
Winner: Joel Campbell, Arsenal
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Arsene Wenger had said pre-match that it was “now or never” for Joel Campbell to make his impact felt at Arsenal, per the Mirror. Well, the Costa Rican earned Setanta Sports broadcast’s Man of the Match award and impressed the floating voters with a tireless display.
He doubled up on Jefferson Montero, aiding Hector Bellerin in tracking as best he could, and harried off the ball frantically in order to stymie Swansea City’s play. His goal—an accurate back-post finish after a good Mesut Ozil cross—was a just reward for his efforts and will ease Arsenal fans’ fears amid this ridiculous injury crisis.
