Arsenal suffered a home and away double defeat to Swansea

 

 

THIS was a glimpse at the fragile Arsenal which started the season, pretty but vulnerable. Not the battering ram of a team which has proven both resilient and powerful in the second half of the season. It was results like this, a defeat which confirmed a win double for Swansea over the Gunners, which busted Arsene Wenger’s chance of a genuine championship run before the season had even really got going back in the autumn. 

There was a casual air to an uneventful – also accurately described as boring – first half in which Swansea closed up and Francis Coquelin found himself playing endless square passes around the halfway line to the defenders. For a moment, it looked like he was determined to max out his pass completion statistics but it meant Arsenal rarely looked dangerous.

However frustrating the block of Swansea defenders and midfielders proved, Arsenal lacked any real urgency until halfway through the second period. Then, Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and the substitutes Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott dispensed with a futile tactic of tossing balls into Olivier Giroud and created pacey attacks which drew some smart saves from Lukas Fabianski, the Swansea goalkeeper who once wore an Arsenal shirt. The first shot on target came almost exactly on the hour mark.

“They didn’t come to play, they came to defend,” said Wenger afterwards, as if some moral victory could be claimed. “They played with four defenders and six midfielders. If you play like that and you win everybody says you are fantastic. If you play like that and you lose, people ask why you didn’t play. They won, so they are fantastic.”

Swansea, not out of the running for a Europa League spot, struck with five minutes left. Arsenal had been getting more gung ho in their search for a winner to keep them on course for a top three finish, but lost their concentration when the lively Jefferson Montero crossed for sub Bafetimbi Gomis to head inside the corner. David Ospina clawed it away but goalline technology proved it had crossed the line. A win would have brought Arsenal level with Manchester City in second, with the advantage of an extra game to play. 

Now they travel to Manchester United on Sunday knowing that although Champions League football for next season is secure, they might once again fall into the qualifying rounds if they stumble again. Before the weekend, avoiding that annoyance looked likely. Iy it would be hugely disappointing for Wenger if he now finds himself having to slug it out in a preliminary.

The manager said: “Fabianski played well but on some occasions we made it too easy for him. We created lots of chances but we rushed our finishing and it became a question of scoring the goal. But Swansea refused to play.”

ARSENAL: Ospina, Bellerin, Monreal, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Coquelin (Wilshere ,67), Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Sanchez, Giroud (Walcott, 69)
Subs not used: Szczesny, Gibbs, Gabriel, Rosicky Flamini
Attendance: 59,989