The Liberty Stadium is never an easy place for any Premier League team to go so for us to come away with a 3-0 victory is a superb result.
Before the game I said that outside the top four Swansea is among the toughest away trips in my opinion, so to get such a positive result will stand us in good stead, especially with such a big week looming.
A crucial Champions League trip to Bayern Munich followed by a home clash with rivals Tottenham are vital and we will need to win both if we are to maintain our decent run of form and avoid the season fizzling out.
With Swansea having done the league double over us last season, I was very wary of the threats posed by this fixture, especially after such a poor showing in the recent cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, and some fans will undoubtedly have expected us to slip up.
Three goals and all three points...I couldn't ask for much more. Also, with Theo Walcott out injured it was important to see both Giroud and Joel Campbell scoring as we will need our forward players to be in decent form if this season is to prove to be a success.
Nacho Monreal and Campbell both sent efforts off target in the opening quarter of the match but it was Swansea who came closest to breaking the deadlock before the break. Jonjo Shelvey set up Bafetimbi Gomis with a perfectly-weighted through ball but the striker hesitated on the ball as he took it past Petr Cech, allowing Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin time to get back and clear the danger.
Gomis was denied against soon after when his header was saved by Cech while, at the other end, Giroud fired over from inside the box and Campbell shot straight at former Gunners' goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Arsenal opened the scoring within four minutes of the restart as an unmarked Giroud headed home from Mesut Ozil's corner for visitors' 2,000th goal under Arsene Wenger.
It could've perhaps been a different story had Cech not come to the rescue to parry Gylfi Sigurdsson's effort from just outside the box soon after. That miss proved costly as Arsenal doubled their advantage after 68 minutes in circumstances that some deemed to be controversial.
Fabianski came to claim Ozil's cross but dropped the ball under pressure from Giroud and Laurent Koscielny before the latter controlled the ball and tapped it into the empty net. There seems to be mixed opinion as to whether or not there was an infringement on the Swans' shot-stopper but referee Kevin Friend deemed that the goal should stand.
However, it was Arsenal who doubled their lead in controversial circumstances with 69 minutes on the clock.
After a cross from the right took a huge deflection, Lukasz Fabianski came to claim the looping ball under pressure from two Arsenal players and as the ball dropped Laurent Koscielny tapped it into an empty net with referee Kevin Friend insisting that there had been no infringement on the goalkeeper.
Campbell completed the scoring when he scored his first ever Premier League goal 16 minutes from time. The Costa Rican latched onto Ozil's cross and was given too much time to control the ball before firing a shot beyond Fabianski and into the bottom corner.
Swansea tried to find a way back into the game and were almost rewarded through their captain Ashley Williams, but the defender's effort was well saved by Cech.
Arsenal nearly added a fourth in stoppage time but Fabianski produced a double save to deny Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Swansea fan Rob Wood felt it was a typical game of two halves, with his side controlling the opening 45 minutes and Arsenal having the better of the rest of the match.
"First half I thought we were on top, but Arsenal were obviously dangerous when they countered," said Wood.
"Gomis should have scored when clean through and we should have had a penalty from Sigurdsson's free-kick when Mertesacker handled.
"The second half belonged to Arsenal. It was a sloppy first goal on our part leaving Giroud free. This gave Arsenal the confidence to dominate the rest of the game and we didn't really get going at all in the second half."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
The importance of this win cannot be underestimated. It is still impossible to gauge whether or not we are going to sustain our league form over the next few months and I feel 50-50 as to if this will be a superb season or the same old story. But one thing is for sure, we are playing very well in the league at the moment which is reflected by our recent results. There is still a long way to go but there is plenty of reason to be positive at the moment. I will probably be able to form more of an opinion after the upcoming Bayern Munich and Tottenham games. Staying in the Champions League will likely have a big knock-on effect on our season so we have to make sure we get at least a point in Germany. As for the visit of Spurs, it may still be early in the season but this is an absolutely must win game, not just for local pride but also for ensuring we continue to keep up the pace with Manchester City. Only goal difference separates us from leaders City at the moment, so let's hope we can sustain our title challenge.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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