Gunners emerge on top in Wales

Swansea 0-3 Arsenal

Arsenal saw their Premier League run extended to five straight wins on Saturday with a very impressive victory away to Swansea, a side who beat the Gunners both home and away last season.

The performance from Arsenal was one that had the hallmark of a side that feels comfortable and confident in itself as Arsene Wenger’s team had to weather a first half storm. The Gunners were far from their best during the first period and even struggled to get out of their own half at times with Swansea comfortably keeping possession and putting their opponents under pressure.

In previous seasons, Arsenal would have buckled, conceded the first goal and had a mountain to climb, dropping points as a result. However so far this campaign, the Gunners appear to be a side that don’t fret when they are not playing particularly well or not dominating the possession. Arsenal stayed calm during a very difficult period of the game and crucially didn’t concede, allowing them to take advantage in the second half.

Of course they did come extremely close to going behind in that first half. Mertesacker could easily have cost Arsenal dear had he been sanctioned for what appeared a needless hand ball in the area as the Gunners defended a free kick on the edge of their box. The German could also have been punished when committing himself to clearing Jojo Shelvy’s through pass and getting nowhere near the ball, allowing Gomis a clear run on goal. Fortunately for Mertesacker and Arsenal, Petr Cech stood tall until the very last second, delaying Gomis as much as he could and providing the super fast Hector Bellerin with just enough time to get back and produce a goal saving challenge on the French striker. Why Mertesacker had committed himself like that is a question only he can answer but it really was suicidal defending. Although the German is the captain when Arteta is not on the field, he is still unfortunately a weak link in the side and the form and desire of Gabriel must surely mean that when all are fit, Wenger’s preferred central defensive partnership has to be the Brazilian alongside Koscielny.

Following that below par first half performance in which their attacking play was slow and cumbersome at times, Arsenal improved greatly in the second period. Within only four minutes of the restart, Olivier Giroud had given the away side the lead with Arsenal’s 2,000^th goal under Wenger. A corner delivery from Ozil found the Frenchman in space and his well directed header saw the ball fly into the bottom corner of the net. Replays showed Giroud had pulled Mertesacker’s shirt in the build up and it appeared that such was his desire to get onto the end of Ozil’s delivery that he didn’t want his teammate to get in the way and so pulled his shirt to stop him from running into that very space. The League Cup performance aside, Giroud is in fine form at the moment and will need to maintain his level against both Bayern Munich and Tottenham as Walcott’s injury will keep him out of action until after the international break at least.

Ozil was the creator once again as Arsenal doubled their lead in the 68^th minute. A flighted ball into the box saw Koscielny and former Gunners goalkeeper Fabianski both challenge for the ball. Fabianski didn’t get enough on the ball and Koscielny was able to win possession, turn and shoot into the empty net. Swansea’s players and manager alike were expecting the referee to blow for a foul on the goalkeeper, but although many referees would have given a foul, really Fabianski should have been stronger as Koscielny barely touched him.

Having had a hand in the two goals, Ozil was at it again in the 74^th minute to help seal all three points. This time a ball across the box found Joel Campbell at the far post and the Costa Rican marked his first Premier League start for the Gunners with a goal. Campbell was calmness personified as he took a great first touch before sweeping the ball into the back of the net. It was just reward for an excellent performance too. Campbell has an opportunity to prove to the manager that he deserves to retain his place in the side, with so many players who can play on the right hand side of the midfield currently injured and if he maintains this level of performance, he will do just that. Campbell’s work rate was brilliant, chasing back to help out his defence time and time again but also showcasing his skills and tricks when in possession as well as the confidence to take shots on goal whenever the opportunity arose. After joining the club in 2011 and being sent on numerous loans, this could be when his Arsenal career finally takes off.

The Gunners performance on Saturday was summed up by that of Hector Bellerin. Like his team, In the first half the young Spaniard struggled at times to contain the fast and tricky Monteiro, with the Swansea winger appearing to get the better of him. However Bellerin’s most impressive quality is the way he thinks about the game as it is developing and when in trouble he finds solutions to the problems he is encountering. In much the same way as when he faced the speed and trickery of Douglas Costa against Bayern Munich, Bellerin didn’t allow himself to get beaten and as the game wore on, found a way to nullify the threat of the winger. In fact the biggest compliment was paid to him by Gary Monk when the Swansea manager substituted Monteiro. Bellerin is fast becoming an integral member of this side and his character, hunger and determination are all qualities which are infectious and which are rubbing off on those around him, pushing this side on week by week.

Arsenal now go into two big fixtures which will really test them. First away to Bayern Munich in a game which will see the Gunners having to put in a great amount of effort and energy as they will not dominate possession and will have to chase the ball for the entire game. Then it is the North London derby in which Arsenal’s players will once again have to give their all for their fans in what is one of the biggest games of the season. Unfortunately, given the injuries, the same players will have to play both demanding games as Wenger has very little options, especially in the attack. Hopefully the Gunners will be able to come through both games relatively unscathed and then regroup after the international break, as with every game the team is growing and developing.