A late Bafetimbi Gomis header gave Swansea a famous victory away at Arsenal. The loss was Arsenal’s first defeat in 11 games and meant that they remain three points behind Manchester City.
The goal came against the run off play. Arsenal could have scored a handful on the night, with Alexis Sanchez wasting a one on one opportunity, shooting the ball at ex Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
The win puts eighth place Swansea six points clear of Stoke and two points behind Tottenham, who sit in sixth. The win was also gave the Welsh side their first double against Arsenal since the 1981-82 season. Swansea beat the Gunners 2-1 in November, Gomis scored the winner on that day.
Arsenal will have been feeling the pressure going into the game after both Manchester City and Manchester United won on the weekend. But the Gunners showed no sign of pressure, controlling the game with 68% possession and 23 shots.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was able to name the same team for a fifth successive game, that’s the first time he’s been able to do so since 1994. The only player in doubt today was Aaron Ramsey, but the Welshman was able to recover from his injury in the win against Hull to appear in the starting line up.
It was the Ramsey who created the only real chance of the first half after just four minutes. His looping cross was headed over by Olivier Giroud.
Swansea were set up to slow down the game with their six man midfield, the plan paid off as Arsenal were unable to create any really chances in the first half.
Injury to striker Nelson Oliveira meant that Gylfi Sigurdsson was forced to play in an attacking role. However the Icelandic midfielder was pushed back into defensive positions as Arsenal worked hard to open the scoring.
Despite playing for Arsenal for seven years, tonight was Fabianski’s best appearance at the Emirates as he prevented Sanchez and Theo Walcott from getting on the score sheet.
The Swansea keepers efforts were rewarded when Gomis came in at the far post to header the ball in. At first David Ospina looked to have saved the Frenchman’s effort, but goal line technology showed the ball had crossed and as a result referee Kevin Friend awarded the goal.
Swansea held on to pick up a famous three points.
The loss for Arsenal will put added pressure on their fixture with Manchester United at Old Trafford next Sunday. If the Gunners were to able to bounce back with a win it would confirm a third place finish.
Swansea will need to pull out another strong performance next Sunday when they host Manchester City.
Man of the Match tonight was Fabianski. The Polish keepers heroics were the main reason that Gomis’s goal was enough to win the game.
