Olivier Giroud scores Arsenal's second goal during tonight's draw at the Emirates

Published: 25 March, 2014
by RICHARD OSLEY at the Emirates

Premier League
ARSENAL 2, SWANSEA CITY 2

IN a way, this result was worse than the 6-0 hammering which Arsenal suffered at Chelsea four days ago. At least then there was a multi-million-pound opposition and a red card to blame.

Tonight, Arsenal may not have lost, but this lukewarm draw against a beatable Swansea was so incompatible with a team pledging to put the wrongs of the weekend right, that its offence for Gunners fan might cut even deeper.

Arsenal should have come out all guns blazing, chalking up a defiant heavy win to banish thoughts of Chelsea celebrations. Instead, they again looked short on ideas, hopelessly lacking in pace and devoid of any gameplan. It was a performance which should worry money-buyers at your local betting offices staking big sums on Arsenal to win the FA Cup against apparent inferior opposition. There are no guarantees with a team currently grinding the wrong way through the gears.

Again, Mikkel Arteta, a player who Arsene Wenger has invested so much faith, seemed the slow-mo man in the middle here, always looking sideways when Arsenal needed urgency. Olivier Giroud, too, looked lost again in the lone striker role and his contributions will only provide ammunition to those still seething that reinforcements were not brought in during January’s transfer window when Arsenal were in a better bargaining position than they will be this summer. 

Wenger admitted afterwards: “The title is not our priority at this moment. We have to look behind us, as well as in front of us. We have to stay focussed.”

It was an admission which referred to the genuine threat coming from Everton and Spurs in the tussle to claim the fourth place path to next season’s Champions League. Whether Arsenal might benefit from a system reboot, akin to Liverpool’s season without European football, is a debate for another day. Wenger tried to look relaxed but he is proud of his annual ability to get his team into Europe’s elite tournament.

Wilfried Bony gave Swansea the lead on 11 minutes, by out-jumping Thomas Vermaelen in a way a confident Vermaelen was never outjumped in the days before his role was demoted to a weekly substitute. Drafted in for Laurent Koscielny this evening, he looked like a cat without its claws.

The goal, however, had come early enough for Arsenal to respond but they earned their half-time heckles by hardly fashioning a decent chance in front of goal amid a mess of failed crosses and wayward set-pieces. The second half followed a similar script until Lukas Podolski was summoned from the bench. Although it seemed strange that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the man removed – he had at least provide a couple of charging runs in the opening half – Podolski at least injected some fresh enthusiasm. He deserved the equalising goal then, when he pounced on Kieran Gibbs’ cut-back with 16 minutes to go. Within a minute, Arsenal had taken an unlikely lead with Podolski escaping down the left, flipping a ball into the box to find Giroud arriving first to clip the ball into the net. He reacted like critics had been answered and everything would be well again. 

But this is a frail Arsenal, particularly without Wilshere, Ozil, Ramsey and Walcott. The deficiencies at the back were exposed in injury time when Leon Britton burst into the box in the final minute. Per Mertesacker slid in to divert the ball, but only into keeper Wojciech Szczesny’s leg. It skidded out into the backtracking Mathieu Flamini and back again into the net. The most bizarre of own goals – three Arsenal touches and in – but the panic had been symptomatic of how Wenger’s team had approached this match.  

Swansea then had a reason for despair of their own in the final seconds when referee Lee Probert inexplicably blew up with a man over racing through for a one-on-one chance. Their disappointment was justified – how many times does a ref blow up when a team is full swing in the middle of an attack? – and while the players made their protests, Arsenal’s made a discreet getaway into the changing rooms. 

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Vermaelen (captain), Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Podolski 57), Arteta, Cazorla, Rosicky (Kallstrom 79), Giroud (Sanogo 89).
Subs not used: Fabianski, Jenkinson, Bellerin, Gnabry.
Attendance: 59,937