Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
(Reuters) - ARSENAL 2 SWANSEA CITY 1
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal's Sead Kolasinac scores their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Arsenal came from behind to beat Swansea City 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday as second-half goals from Sead Kolasinac and Aaron Ramsey saw off the injury-weakened visitors.
Victory for the Gunners in Arsene Wenger's 800th Premier League match in charge means champions Chelsea, who play in the day's late kick-off at Bournemouth, must win to retake fourth spot in the table. Swansea, meanwhile, sank to 17th place, just above the relegation zone.
The visitors, without injured striker Wilfried Bony, midfielder Renato Sanches and defender Martin Olsson, took the lead in the 22nd minute against the run of play. Sam Clucas ran on to a pass from Tammy Abraham and slotted the ball neatly beneath Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Swansea City's Lukasz Fabianski saves a shot from Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
Arsenal's powerful Bosnian left back Kolasinac equalised in the 51st minute and set up Ramsey to put the home side ahead in the 58th with his third goal of the season.
Arsenal manager Wenger praised Kolasinac, who joined the club on a free transfer from Germany's Schalke this year, for putting the home side back in control of the game.
"Kolasinac was decisive today," he told reporters. "Since he has arrived he has convinced everybody that he is a good signing, and overall when you see the quality of his performance again today, you see there are still some good deals to make out there."
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal's Sead Kolasinac celebrates scoring their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Kolasinac came off with a slight hip injury in the 78th minute, but Wenger is hoping he will be able travel with the squad to league leaders Manchester City.
"We hope to get him fit for next Sunday. He had that before, and we managed to get him always available," Wenger said.
Swansea coach Paul Clement was keen to take away positives from the game, picking out the creative play of Abraham that led to the opening goal.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Swansea City’s Samuel Clucas celebrates scoring their first goal with Tammy Abraham and Tom Carroll Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
"We were always in the game, right up until the last moments. When you've got someone like him (Abraham) you believe you can get another chance," he said.
"Unfortunately, we didn't get that opportunity at the end," he said.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Swansea City's Tammy Abraham scores a goal that is later disallowed REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
(Reporting by Hugh Lawson; Editing by Ed Osmond)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey celebrates scoring their second goal with Sead Kolasinac Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey celebrates scoring their second goal with team mates Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez looks dejected REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Swansea City's Tammy Abraham applauds fans after the match REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Swansea City's Leroy Fer in action with Arsenal's Granit Xhaka, Olivier Giroud (C) and Aaron Ramsey (R) REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal's Sead Kolasinac in action with Swansea City's Ki Sung Yueng (L) and Kyle Naughton (R) Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal vs Swansea City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - October 28, 2017 Swansea City manager Paul Clement Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
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