Former Tottenham midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson broke Arsenal hearts and put a big dent in their title challenge as he helped his Swansea side to a surprise 2-1 win at the Emirates.
Wayne Routledge cancelled out Joel Campbell's opener before Sigurdsson's free-kick was bundled home by Ashley Williams 16 minutes from time.
Second-placed Tottenham lost 1-0 at West Ham, which makes it all the more frustrating that we couldn't capitalise. The title challenge is gradually slipping further away from us and it really is looking more and more like it's going to be Leicester's year. If we are to have any remote chance of changing that then we must get nothing other than a win from our next game away at bitter rivals Spurs.
Some reports after the game suggested Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech could face a few weeks on the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury, so we just have to hope people have jumped the gun and he is back for the North London Derby. We definitely need him!
Arsenal showed more attacking intent in the first half but just couldn't make their dominance count enough despite the fact they opened the scoring.
Olivier Giroud had a shot blocked, Francis Coquelin's effort went off target and Alexis Sanchez saw his strike hit a post all inside the opening 10 minutes.
But the Gunners finally broke the deadlock after quarter of an hour when Campbell timed his run to perfection to meet Sanchez's chipped ball over the top with a lovely half volley.
Swansea hit back shortly after the half hour mark as Jack Cork slid the ball through to Routledge, who then fired a shot into the bottom corner of the net. It was a well taken goal but Arsenal fans, including myself, were left frustrated that we hadn't been awarded a free-kick for what looked like a foul on Mesut Ozil in the build up.
Arsenal had a superb chance to equalise four minutes before the break as Per Mertesacker's headed knock down was met by a powerful volley from Giroud, but the Frenchman's effort hit the crossbar so the scores remained level.
The hosts tried to threaten their Welsh opponents more in the second half but didn't do nearly enough to test their former player Lukasz Fabianski in the Swansea goal.
Ozil saw a shot blocked after doing excellently to bring down a long ball, while Sanchez sent a shot just wide. At the other end, Sigurdsson got the better of Cech before firing inches wide from a tight angle.
Arsenal very nearly took the lead after 67 minutes but Sanchez's free-kick went over the wall and smashed against the crossbar. That miss proved costly as Swansea moved in front just seven minutes later. Sigurdsson's superb delivery from the free-kick wasn't dealt with by Cech and Ashley Williams bundled it in from close range. Cech maybe should've done a bit better but take nothing away from Sigurdsson, it was a great cross and it was no wonder that it caused so many problems.
The hosts tried desperately to get back into the game but Giroud sent his header straight into the hands of Fabianski before Nacho Monreal sent his effort over.
Substitute Theo Walcott also failed to trouble Fabianski from a header and seeing Campbell and Sanchez - two of Arsenal's best players on the night - taken off was infuriating and just added to the dismal feeling surrounding the match at this point.
Although we didn't really deserve anything on the night, I still feel we should've had a penalty in the final minute of normal time when Aaron Ramsey appeared to be fouled in the box, but it wasn't to be and Swansea held on for a huge three points.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Swansea fan Lisa Phillips was delighted by the result as her side boosted their chances of survival.
"I thought it was all Arsenal for a while but they couldn't take their chances," said Phillips. "We were clinical when we had to be and played well at times. It's such a massive win for us."
"It's a massive game against Norwich on the weekend so if we win that we should be fine."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Every time we are given false hope that we may actually have a chance at the title this year something goes wrong. Leicester are top and some said this was our best chance as at least we aren't trying to catch the likes of Chelsea, while Manchester City are also below us, but how wrong they were. Leicester fully deserve their place at the top and we are not going to catch them if we keep playing like this.
My friends know I am often an eternal optimist when it comes to football but even I was truly fed up tonight. We wasted what was such a good opportunity and it is so irritating. Part of me wants to keep believing that we can get a result at Spurs and then re-ignite the challenge, while the other part of me thinks 'don't be silly, we'll just muck up again'. I really genuinely have no idea what is going to happen next but one thing I can be sure will never change is my love for Arsenal Football Club.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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