Swansea 0 – Arsenal 3 (Giroud 49′, Koscielny 68′, Campbell 74′)
Match Report – Match Highlights – Post-Match Press Conference (via Arsenal.com)
There was so much fuss about who was going to feature on the right flank and Joel Campbell finally got the nod. Playing Swansea in Wales is never an easy prospect and the home side were on the ascendancy in the opening minutes of the game and strangely, the Gunners didn’t play with any cohesion at all. There were some half chances from Campbell and Olivier Giroud but the chance of the game arrived when Jonjo Shelvey unlocked the Arsenal defense with a super pass to Bafetembi Gomis and it seemed as if he was going to end his drought. The French forward dallied too long on the ball and finally managed to get past Petr Cech but Hector Bellerin was on hand to make a superb clearance.
Cech made his presence in the game felt with some great saves as well as claiming the ball many times it was floated into Arsenal’s danger area but when the half ended at 0-0, one wondered if the Gunners were going to have enough in the tank to grind out a result at the Liberty Stadium. The match opener finally arrived when Mesut Ozil lofted in a cross that was headed in a typical striker’s fashion by Giroud. With no defender protecting Lukasz Fabianski’s far post, the ball drifted into an unguarded net.
Giroud scoring Arsenal’s 2,000th goal under Wenger
Swansea did their bit to get an equalizer but Cech ensured that the Gunners defense was protected. Arsenal’s second goal came in a rather bizarre fashion with Fabianski failing to handle a cross well and the ball dropped kindly to Laurent Koscielny’s path and he side-footed the ball into the net. In contrast to Fabianski’s performance against Arsenal at the Emirates last season, this was an aberration.
Arsenal put the game beyond doubt when Ozil’s drilled pass found Campbell‘s career and he reacted quickly to score his first Arsenal goal on his Premier League debut. This would have been monumental for Campbell to score a goal to justify his manager’s faith in him. Many fans have really doubted his ability and some feel that he’s not good enough to play for a club of Arsenal’s caliber but Arsene Wenger had stuck with him all these years, so he definitely sees something in the lad that we obviously don’t.
Seeing the lads grind out results despite not playing so well in most games is the stuff of champions. Norwich City gave a very good account of themselves in their away clash with Manchester City but Yaya Toure’s late penalty ensured that the Citizens remain on top of the log with goal difference. Arsenal has done really well to maintain the pace with the table toppers and next week’s clash with Tottenham in the North London Derby will be very interesting.
Till then, let’s shift our focus to what could potentially be the game of the season against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Sayonara.
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