A great result for Arsenal, even though they didn’t play that well. Swansea capitulated in the second half, and Paul Clement has serious work to do.
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Full-time: Swansea 0-4 Arsenal
That’s the whistle.
90 min +2 More good play from McBurnie, but Borja heads his cross over the bar when he should have hit the target.
90 min Three pointless minutes of stoppage time.
89 min Routledge shot when he should have passed to Sigurdsson, and then McBurnie, who’s shown some good touches since coming on, heads over.
88 min We’re just playing time. This is Arsenal’s first ever Premier League double over Swansea; they won 3-2 at the Emirates earlier in the season.
86 min Sigurdsson tests Cech, but he didn’t get any power.
85 min Alexis is in a huge sulk on the touchline, obviously upset at being taken off. Come on, man! Your team’s 4-0 up, and you’ve scored a goal. Turn that frown upside down!
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83 min There’s something to be written on teams losing so comprehensively in the modern game. Why are there so many 0-3 and 0-4 scorelines this season? Are teams more brittle nowadays? Or is the deck stacked so heavily in favour of attacking players? Paging Jonathan Wilson.
81 min McBurnie does well to escape on the left side, but his cross is behind the trio of attacking players in support.
79 min Two final changes for Arsenal: Özil and Alexis are replaced by Welbeck and Perez.
78 min It hasn’t really been a 4-0 game, but Swansea’s defence has really struggled. And of course, two own goals don’t help. Leroy Fer is booked for a late tackle on Ramsey. That was naughty.
77 min Arsenal’s excellent goalscoring form in away matches continues.
27 - Arsenal have scored 27 away goals in the Premier League this season, at least five more than any other team. Excursions.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 14, 2017
74 min A slightly lucky ricochet off Routledge, and the ball found its way to Alexis, who reacted quickest and prodded home from six yards.
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GOAL! Swansea 0-4 Arsenal (Alexis 73)
Alexis’s 14th goal of the season makes it 4-0.
72 min Routledge moves smoothly into the penalty area, but his cross is straight at Cech. The Liberty Stadium has gone very quiet.
70 min Double change for Swansea: Borja and McBurnie on for Llorente and Cork.
68 min Iwobi, who’s moved to the left, took on the defender, fizzed it across the six-yard box, and Naughton, facing the wrong way, stabbed it past Fabianski. You have to feel for Swansea, but this game is over.
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GOAL! Swansea 0-3 Arsenal (Naughton og 67)
Oh dear. Another own goal, and it’s three-nil.
65 min Oh, and that was a chance for Fernandez! The ball was cleared, Kingsley slung it back it, and it fell kindly for Fernandez, who sidefooted it over the bar from 12 yards! A shame for Swansea that it didn’t fall to Sigurdsson.
64 min Sigurdsson finds Routledge, and his shot hits Koscielny and goes behind. Corner.
61 min I think that second goal has now officially gone down as a Jack Cork own goal. But now Swansea must rouse themselves in the final 30 minutes. Do they have it in them?
59 min Giroud departs, finally, and Oxlade-Chamberlain is on.
57 min It was Jack Cork, actually, who got the telling deflection. Does that go down as an own goal? In the meantime, Leroy Fer is on for the ineffectual Nathan Dyer.
55 min Swansea just couldn’t clear it. The ball came back in, Iwobi found half a yard of space in the box, but his shot took a massive deflection off Mawson, was it, and it looped up and over Fabianski, who had no chance. A slice of ill fortune for Swansea, but Arsenal had applied so much pressure that the goal looked inevitable. It’s a long way back for Swansea now.
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GOAL! Swansea 0-2 Arsenal (Cork og 54)
A huge deflection on Iwobi’s shot, and Arsenal make it two!
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53 min Excellent save from Fabianksi to deny Ramsey. It was a super pass from Alexis, and Ramsey’s first touch was immaculate, but Fabianksi stayed big to block the shot with his legs. Swansea are under the cosh here.
51 min Arsenal have stepped it up since the break, and twice Alexis shoots when he should have passed. Both efforts were blocked, but that was greedy from the Chilean.
48 min Oxlade-Chamberlain is still warming up. We’ll keep an eye on Giroud. Meanwhile, here’s Luke Forrester: “That challenge on Monreal was Naught On, there was simply no need Fer that. Simply a Dyer challenge. I bet poor old Nacho had Nordfeldt a tackle like that since his day in the under-21s. Still, Paul Clement probably appreciates a bit of bite from his squad – you could almost hear him under his breath: ‘Go on Mawson!’
“If Swansea want to win this then that grit in midfield will be Ki. Snatch a goal and last the 90 minutes? There’ll be champagne Corks popping later tonight!”
Very good. Very good!
47 min Good defending from the excellent Mustafi, shepherding the ball out for a goal kick under pressure from Llorente. Why on earth did Everton let him go?
46 min Giroud is back on, through gritted teeth. He looked as though he was ready to come off at the end of that first half. We shall see how long he lasts.
Charles Antaki writes: “Llorente 0, Giroud 1. Actually, I’m not entirely sure Llorente is on the pitch – has the Swansea sea air got to him already and sent him back on his travels?”
Yep – he’s been disappointing.
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Half-time: Swansea 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal haven’t played well, but they lead: Giroud was the man of the moment, and swept home as Swansea stood and watched. Not a great game, but the visitors are now in control. See you shortly for the second half.
44 min Swansea have a man over, but Dyer chooses the wrong option, and shoots when he should have passed. It’s a mile over the bar. But Swansea have found a bit of zip since the goal.
43 min Swansea on the attack, and Ki goes down in the box. Is that a penalty? No, it’s a booking for Ki for diving! Koscielny stuck out a lazy leg, but Ki was definitely looking for it, and went down very easily. Koscielny didn’t get the ball, but it seemed as though Ki was on his way down before the contact came. Big call from Mike Jones, but I like it: I think it’s the right decision.
42 min Giroud’s able to continue, at least for the time being.
40 min But this is interesting: Giroud looks like he’s got a problem, and Oxlade-Chamberlain is warming up. Is Giroud able to continue?
39 min I think that makes it Giroud’s fifth goal in five games. He should really have put the first chance away, but in the second sequence, he did to react quickest to the loose ball and fire home.
38 min Arsenal sliced Swansea open, and Giroud inexplicably failed to get a touch on Ramsey’s initial cross. But no matter: Alexis retrieved it, crossed for Özil, who was totally unmarked, and although his header was blocked, the ball fell to Giroud, who slammed it into the top of the net from about four yards. A fabulous first move from Arsenal, but then Swansea just stood and watched. How did they allow Özil to get so free?
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GOAL! Swansea 0-1 Arsenal (Giroud 37)
Finally, Arsenal wake up, and Giroud gives them the lead.
32 min Swansea are happy to let Arsenal have the ball for the time being. Monreal goes down in a heap again, this time after a tackle from Dyer, and again no card! Monreal can’t believe it. That should definitely have been yellow. Dyer was really late.
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29 min Swansea committed men forward, and Arsenal had a chance on the break. Özil found Ramsey on the edge of the box, but his pass for Alexis was rotten, and Swansea won it back. Signs that the game is beginning to open up, though.
27 min Super shot with very little backlift from Alexis Sanchez, but Fabianski is well behind it, and holds it to his chest. Good keeping.
25 min Still nothing from Arsenal. Here’s William Hargreaves: “Was it Lawrenson or someone who said that he thought that Arsenal had a strong enough squad to win the thing. If so, what do they need to do to compete with the brood around them? One looks at Pochettino, Klopp and Conte, not to mention Pep and Mou, and wonders if Arsène is finally past it? Shame if so. Would have been good to see him go out on a high.”
Good point. But I’m not sure if Wenger is past it; I just think Arsenal aren’t perhaps as good as some of the teams around them. Spurs, in particular, look tip-top at the moment.
22 min Halfway through the first half, and it’s been thin gruel, that Naughton effort aside. Arsenal haven’t really got out of first gear. Giroud’s barely had a touch. To use that old Hugh McIlvanney line about the boxer Joe Bugner, Giroud has the body of a Greek statue, but with fewer moves.
20 min Naughton whacks Monreal from behind. Monreal crumples in a heap, and Naughton is perhaps slightly fortunate not to receive a card.
18 min Corner to Arsenal. Özil takes, and it bends out of play before reaching Olivier Giroud. Goal kick. Groan.
16 min Arsenal aren’t quite at it yet, and Mustafi is forced to concede a corner after some sloppy defensive play from Koscielny. Cleared effectively by Arsenal.
Angus Chisholm is pondering gloves: “One wonders whether Alexis wears gloves just so he can make a show of casting them off with a dramatic flourish. To be honest, it would endear him to me even more.”
14 min Sigurdsson finds a pocket of space 20 yards from goal, and fires one over the bar. He’s annoyed with himself: that was a chance to test Petr Cech. Swansea doing well so far.
12 min Arsenal haven’t quite found their passing rhythm. Swansea are working hard to block off any space for the visitors to work in.
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10 min Not too much happening just yet. But then Kyle Naughton forces a fine stop from Petr Cech! There didn’t seem to be too much on for the right-back, but he creamed a lovely shot from inside the box, and Cech did reall well to tip it round the post! The corner’s wasted, but that was a really good effort from Naughton.
6 min It’s been a slow start, and Mesut Özil passes one intended for Alexis straight out of play. Alexis responds by flinging his gloves off. Good for him!
4 min Paul Clement’s already looking animated on the touchline. Claude Makelele looks much calmer. First attack for Arsenal, and Sanchez gets away down the left, but Swansea get bodies back to clear the danger.
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2 min Sigurdsson worked an angle for a shot, but Llorente did a very good impression of an NFL linebacker, and completely got in his way. Shame.
1 min And we’re off! Swansea in all white; Arsenal in black with reasonably disgusting luminous yellow trim. Alex Iwobi looks as though he’s started on the right-hand side for the visitors.
The teams are out on the pitch. We’ll get going very soon.
If you’d prefer to keep up to date with the other goings-on in the Premier League and La Liga, Niall McVeigh has all the latest here:
Here’s Charles Antaki on today’s heartthrob centre-forwards: “Llorente v Giroud is an intriguing comparison of upper body strength, neck-muscle virtuosity, limited mobility, and occasional inability to pass to a nearby colleague. You might say that Llorente has the edge, having been at it for what seems like several decades, but after Bilbao, Turin and Seville, Swansea might be disorientatingly exotic.”
Is this the season that Arsenal finally finish outside the top four? It’s all looking a bit congested at the top of the league, and Spurs, who looked a bit stodgy earlier in the season, have suddenly got hot. Chelsea must be a certainty for top four, and Liverpool, too, so who misses out between Man City, Arsenal and Man United?
The last time Arsenal finished lower than fourth, incidentally, was 1995-96, before Wenger took over, when Bruce Rioch was in charge. They finished fifth that season, behind Newcastle (second) and Aston Villa (fourth). How times change, eh?
Spurs have thumped West Brom, and have looked very good in doing so. Three goals for Harry Kane and an own goal from Gareth McAuley made the final score 4-0. Spurs go second. Ominous!
Changes for each side. Fabianski, Mawson, Routledge and Llorente return to the team after the FA Cup defeat by Hull, so Nordfeldt, Van der Hoorn, Fer and Baston make way.
Arsène Wenger recalls Cech, Koscielny, Özil and Alexis in place of Ospina, Maitland-Niles, Lucas Perez and Oxlade-Chamberlain, who all played in the last week’s victory over Preston.
Today's lineups
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Kingsley, Cork, Ki, Dyer, Sigurdsson, Routledge, Llorente. Subs: van der Hoorn, Fer, Borja Baston, Nordfeldt, Rangel, Fulton, McBurnie.
Arsenal: Cech, Gabriel, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Xhaka, Ramsey, Iwobi, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud. Subs: Lucas Perez, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Holding, Welbeck, Reine-Adelaide, Maitland-Niles.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Hello and welcome
A big day in south Wales. Arsenal are desperate for victory to return to the top four; Swansea need three points to after a poor recent run and a failed experiment with Bob Bradley. Their new coach, new Paul Clement, takes charge for the first time in the Premier League today, and his presence should lift a team low on confidence, but the quality in the squad is lacking, particularly in defence.
Swansea can’t stop shipping goals: the 45 they’ve conceded is the most in the league, and they’ve endured several thrashings already this season, which is the main reason that they sit 19th. But Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente have a pedigree, and Wayne Routledge and Nathan Dyer have pace to worry the Arsenal backline. Can the new manager construct a famous victory in his first game?
Arsenal have managed just one point from their last three Premier League away games, the pressure is back on Arsène Wenger, and his team are in serious need of three points. But they have injuries: Hector Bellerin and Francis Coquelin are out, joining Mohamed Elneny, Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla, Per Mertesacker and Kieran Gibbs on the treatment table. Much rests on the returning Mesut Özil and the inimitable Alexis Sanchez.
It should be interesting. Join us for kickoff at 3pm local time.
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Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why Arsenal must avoid another slow start:
Having finished the festive period eight points behind Chelsea and a place outside the top four, the pressure on Arsenal has gone up a notch or two. Their title challenge is in need of an injection of energy and while they have always found a way to qualify for the Champions League in the past, the competition is tougher this season and there is no room for complacency. Although Arsène Wenger’s side demonstrated their resolve by recovering from dismal starts against Bournemouth and Preston North End, their initial slackness in both of those games suggests that there needs to be a sharp improvement in their focus when they visit Swansea City, whose players will surely be eager to impress their new manager, Paul Clement, despite their perilous position. JS
