Swansea City vs. Arsenal: Score and Reaction from 2017 Premier League Match

Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League on Saturday as they thrashed hosts Swansea City 4-0 at the Liberty Stadium.

Olivier Giroud opened the scoring in the first half, before second-half own goals from Jack Cork and Kyle Naughton and an Alexis Sanchez strike sealed the victory.

The hosts failed to capitalise on a lacklustre Gunners' performance in the first half; in the second, Arsenal were far more convincing in the final third and made the Swans pay.

After a slow start, the first chance of the match fell to Naughton, and he forced a smart save from Petr Cech with a powerful effort.

Meanwhile, Arsenal struggled to find any sort of coherent rhythm with their passing or movement. ESPN FC's Mattias Karen was unimpressed:

The Gunners scored with their first real chance of note thanks to some static defending from the hosts. Mesut Ozil's free header fell to Giroud four yards out after being blocked by Alfie Mawson, and the Frenchman found the net for his fifth successive game.

OptaJoe illustrated the extent of his impressive form:

Arsenal began the second half with much more intent, and after Aaron Ramsey had an effort well saved by Lukasz Fabianski, they were quickly rewarded with a second goal.

The Swans failed to clear their lines, allowing Alex Iwobi to get a shot off inside the area, which looped over the hapless Fabianski after taking a huge deflection off Jack Cork.

GEOFF CADDICK/Getty Images

Federico Fernandez missed a glorious chance to pull one back for the hosts 10 minutes later as he shot over the bar from 12 yards, and his miss proved crucial.

Three minutes later, Naughton turned home Iwobi's cross into his own net, and soon after, Sanchez volleyed in from close range to round out the scoring.

As Squawka Football noted, Sanchez's goal put him level with Diego Costa in the race for the Premier League's Golden Boot:

The Gunners have returned to the UEFA Champions League places but may not remain there if Liverpool and Manchester City win their matches on Sunday—Arsenal need to be able to sustain their winning form long-term if they're to remain in the hunt for the title.

As for Swansea, they perhaps did not deserve to lose so heavily, but the scoreline offers a stark reminder of the challenge Swansea manager Paul Clement faces.

With Liverpool, Southampton, Manchester City, Leicester City and Chelsea comprising their next five league games, it will be a real struggle for them to haul themselves out of the relegation places in the coming weeks.  

Post-Match Reaction

Per BBC Sport's Dafydd Pritchard, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said: 

"

The first half was very intense physically, they gave a lot in the first half and then our pace took over. They had problems containing us.

In the second half, you could see we could create chances. Our transition and accuracy of passing was very good. We were fortunate with the goals, but the chances were there.

"

Clement added: "It is very disappointing. The first half we were in the game and looked solid defensively, even though we did not do enough offensively. We got caught on the counter for the first goal."