Match Review: Swansea 1 Arsenal 2 - Premier League 28.9.13

I have to say, I really enjoyed that win. Apart from the Sp*rs game, this one has given me the greatest satisfaction. I'm really buzzing following that win, which sees us taking advantage of other sides dropping points and lead the table on points. It really is no small achievement too, many pundits were tipping this to be a game we'd slip up in and Swansea have been in good form of late. Couple that with our huge injury list and it made for a very tough looking game. So to get a win out of the game is very satisfying and hopefully proves that we're on course to do something a bit more than challenging for fourth this year.

The day started off with an amusing little article from Michael Owen, claiming that we don't look like a top four side. I don't want to give his halfwitted comments too much exposure, but suffice to say that I believe that claiming that we don't look a top four side, having never finished outside of it under Wenger and leading the league while others struggle is just plain thick.

While the Gooners of twitter scratched their heads, wondering how pundits like this continue to be paid for such lazy opinions, Sp*rs and Chelsea were playing out a 1-1 draw, the ideal result for us, plus Torres was sent off. The results only got better as the 3pm kick-offs rolled around and Man City and Man Utd were beaten in games that they were expected to walk. So as we walked out at the Liberty, the opportunity was there for us to open up a points lead at the top. It's an opportunity we've been guilty of spurning in recent seasons and Swansea weren't going to make it easy for us.

The first half was very nip and tuck, both sides looking to establish a dominance with possession and passing. Swansea managed to attain more possession, but largely passed it around in their own half and couldn't get Michu on the ball as much as they'd have liked.

The one sensible moment Niall Quinn had during the game was when he suggested that Swansea found it more comfortable to pass around the back line because Arsenal aren't used to pressing a possession based team like Swansea, focus on playing out from the back with short passes rather than long balls forward. I thought it was a fair assessment, but they didn't really threaten and I was really impressed with our defense.

The one slight issue was with Swansea switching play to the opposite flank. Whilst you can never be sure, it seemed like something that Laudrup had picked up on, the fact that we leave Gibbs with pretty much no cover. Instead of aiming straight for the supposed weakness, i.e. attacking Gibbs' flank, Swansea seemed to focus on Sagna's side and would then switch the play out to Tiendalli, running forward from right back. With Gibbs tucked in a bit and Flamini and Ramsey pressing the other flank, Tiendalli was often left with a lot of space and we found ourselves a bit stretched.

Fortunately for us Tiendalli was absolutely shocking in what he did with it, lashing crosses wide and high and just generally wasting it. The flank switching also had an effect on our attacking play, with Jack Wilshere having to stay wide and make sure Gibbs was getting enough help when Swansea doubled up.

It was a tough game for Jack, playing out of position and having to do more defensive work than he's used to, but also being pulled away from Özil and not being able to play the tight one-twos we needed to get our attacks going. Despite that, we looked the most likely to score. Mertesacker headed wide from a magnificent cross, then Gibbs drove at the Swansea defense and pulled the ball back across goal, but no-one made the run needed to convert, before Ramsey went close with an effort from the edge of the area.

We did have a very scary moment at the back, when Szczesny's first touch squirted away from him and Michu slid in to nip the ball away. Szczesny shepherded the ball out, but Michu almost kept it in and whilst Szczesny gave a cheeky wink after the incident, it could have been a seriously embarrassing moment for him.

The best chance of the first half fell to Olivier Giroud, who'd been down clutching his ankle moments before. Gnabry did brilliantly to weave past the Swansea defenders and poke the ball through for the Frenchman, but he thrashed at the chance and sent it well wide of the far post. He really should have scored and it would have been the perfect end to an even half.

I was feeling quite confident about the second half. This game felt exactly like last season's one at the Liberty and I felt that while we might not enjoy our usual majority share of position, I thought we'd have the ability to create and take the couple of chances we'd need. The game sprung to life in the 58th minute and it was Arsenal who made the breakthrough. Ramsey, Wilshere and Giroud played a quick neat triangle of passes, which resulted in Giroud being dispossessed.

Fortunately the ball fell for Ramsey, who swept the ball through to Gnabry and the German smashed the ball into the bottom of the far corner. It was a great finish from the young man and capped off a whirlwind week for him. Thrown in the deep end against Stoke, he's shown a lot of talent and determination and he looks like he could become a first team regular in the future.

We'd grabbed the initiative and straight after the restart, we broke through again and Özil had a magnificent chance to grab his first goal for the club, but he telegraphed where he was going to shoot and Vorm pulled off a very good save. Özil is probably still adjusting to the league, at times his passes are just slightly behind the player and he holds on to the ball too long, but with time he will hopefully hit the same heights he did at Madrid. If that happens, we're going to have a truly frightening attacking potential.

A few minute's after Özil's chance, we doubled our lead from a pacey counter attack. Szczesny threw the ball out to the right and the ball was played into Ramsey, who flicked the ball behind him. Wilshere showed great desire to get to the ball ahead of the Swansea defender and drove forward before laying the ball off to Giroud. Giroud unselfishly cut the ball back to Ramsey, who took a touch and then smashed the ball home.

Another game, another goal, another chance to shush the opposition fans who'd been booing him from the start. Arsene Wenger called it right, Ramsey can't stop scoring and he's stolen the show this season, stepping up and making the midfield role his own. I couldn't be more happy for him and he's earning the right to shush every doubter who gave him hell. He's maturing, strengthening and if he continues like this, he'll become an integral part of this Arsenal side for a long time.

Two goals to the good, we relaxed a bit, let Swansea have the ball and soaked up the pressure. Arteta replaced Gnabry after 78 minutes as we looked to sure up the midfield and we looked pretty solid, with Koscielny and Mertesacker doing a great job of keeping Michu and Bony from combining. Szczesny made a very good stop from Dyer's strike and aside from his first half brain melt, he looked commanding all game and claimed a lot of crosses.

However, Swansea did break through and it was a fantastic move. Ben Davies received a crossfield ball and cut inside Sagna. We failed to close him quick enough and he played the ball to Bony, who played an exquisite ball over the top of the defense. Davies continued his run and he just got a touch to get the ball past Szczesny.

With seven minutes left, it wasn't what we needed and we had to dig deep to see it out. Monreal and Jenkinson were brought on to keep our lead in tact. But with cool heads in defense and a lot of experience in seeing these types of games out, we got there without too many scares.

So an eighth Premier League away win in a row sends us top. Our form on the road is absolutely outstanding and you have to give enormous credit to the team for getting some fantastic results. We've ground out some great results and our last 17 games has seen us make a mockery of AVB's famous 'negative spiral' comment. Ever since he gave it the big mouth we've been flying and the manager and team have rallied fantastically to get us in a great position. Hopefully we can keep the positivity and the form up and making a serious go at some silverware this season.

Teams

Swansea (4-3-3)
Vorm, Amat, Chico ■, Tiendalli, Davies, Shelvey (Bony 61'), Dyer, Routledge (Pozuelo 64'), De Guzman ■, Canas ■, Michu
Subs
Tremmel, Taylor, Alfei, Britton, Pozuelo, Bony, Vazquez

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini ■, Ramsey, Wilshere (Jenkinson 90'), Ozil (Monreal 88'), Gnabry (Arteta 78' ■), Giroud
Subs
Fabianski, Vermaelen, Monreal, Jenkinson, Arteta, Miyaichi, Bendtner

Player Ratings

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