Arsenal Continues Unbeaten Home Record After Overcoming Swansea
Arsenal continued their unbeaten record at home this season, and made in five wins out of five at the Emirates with a 2-1 victory over Swansea, who slumped to their sixth defeat of the season after 10 games.
The home side made a bright start to the first half, with captain Per Mertesacker coming close in the opening five minutes with a towering header, only to see his effort saved by former Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
However, for all the Gunners' early pressure, they couldn't find a way past a resilient Swansea defence, with Alfie Mawson putting in a notable performance while the England manager Gareth Southgate in attendance.
With 70% possession in the first half an hour, it seemed only a matter of time before Arsenal would take the lead, but it was the away side who struck first completely against the run of play.
After winning the ball back in the middle of the field, Tammy Abraham played in Sam Clucas with a superb through ball, which was then converted by the midfielder with a calm, low finish underneath Petr Cech.
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The rest of the half saw Arsenal fans audibly frustrated with their teams slow build up play, with seeming lack of urgency about the way they were passing the ball from one side to the other. The unrest and anxiety seemed to translate onto the pitch, with Mertesacker losing the ball on the edge of his box just before half time, only for Jordan Ayew to waste a golden opportunity to put his side two up.
Arsenal's best chance of the half fell to none other than Alexis Sanchez after a wonderful exchange of passes with Kolasinac, before cutting inside from the left and unleashing a wild shot which was tipped over the bar by Fabianski. Although Arsenal played some wonderful football, their possession game failed to translate to goals in the first half.
However, after the break, the game seemed to explode into life after Sead Kolasinac equalised for the home side. After a neat move in the the box, Sanchez's hopeful cross fell to the left back, who arrived late to smash the ball home with an emphatic far post finish.
The early breakthrough seemed to lift the spirit around the Emirates after a lot of unrest in the first 45 minutes. Several chances to gain the lead were wasted until 10 minutes after the equaliser, Aaron Ramsey doubled his side's lead after a tremendous flowing move in which Kolasinac was involved again, before Ramsey slid a low near post finish into the Swansea net.
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The second half was controlled by the Gunners, who once again had the vast majority of possession. Hector Bellerin had a chance to make it three with 20 minutes to go, but the Spaniard's sliding attempt brushed the top of the Swansea bar.
Swansea, not for a lack of trying, just couldn't string a cohesive attack together that could worry the Arsenal defence, and their dismal start to the league continued having scored only seven goals in 10 games.
As for the home side, they showed character to fight back after falling a goal behind early on, and this victory will ensure they keep pace with the top four.
