ARSENE Wenger praised forgotten man Joel Campbell's "spirit" after Arsenal made it five Premier League wins in a row on Saturday afternoon. 

Campbell struck on his first league start as the Gunners kept up the pressure on leaders Manchester City with a ruthless second-half dismantling of Swansea. 

With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott joining a lengthy list of absentees, Campbell was drafted in, and he didn't disappoint as he scored the final goal in a 3-0 win. "Campbell took his goal really well," said Wenger. "He is a young player, who had to wait for his chance. And he took it. 

Joel Campbell celebrates scoring on his first full Premier League start

"He's adapted to Europe, been in a few leagues and come back and I like his team spirit and work rate." 

Reflecting on the result that keeps Arsenal second in the table, Wenger added: "Swansea took six points off us last year and this win shows we've moved forward. 

"The second half we were a different team. After we scored the first goal, it was all us and there was only one winner on the pitch." 

Olivier Giroud headed Arsenal in front early in the second half. The decisive moment of the match came in the 68th minute when Laurent Koscielny turned the ball into a gaping net and the goal was allowed to stand, although the Swansea players were convinced goalkeeper and former Gunner Lukasz Fabianski had been fouled. 

Campbell then capped a great day for Arsenal four minutes later, lashing the ball into the net to score his first goal for the club. 

"I didn’t see a foul, honestly," said Wenger when quizzed about Koscielny's goal afterwards. "Maybe I missed something and I have to watch it again. 

Santi Cazorla pulled the strings as Arsenal won their fifth league match in a row

"There are always a diverse set of opinions from managers on that. It didn’t look obvious to me from outside. 

"I am pleased because we could keep a clean sheet during the difficult moments of the game and you are never in a hurry to take too many risks going forward. Once we scored the first goal it was a completely different game." 

ARSENAL: Cech, Bellerín, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Campbell (Gibbs, 84), Ozil (Iwobi, 93), Sanchez, Giroud (Chambers, 84) 

Substitutes not used: Debuchy, Gabriel, Flamini, Macey 

Attendance: 20,937