Olivier Giroud scored for the fifth game in a row to continue his fine run of form as Arsenal smashed Swansea 4-0 at the Liberty Stadium.
The French striker's goals have really bailed the Gunners out of late, but this was more of a routine win with own goals from Jack Cork and Kyle Naughton, along with Alexis Sanchez's strike, completing the scoring.
The Liberty Stadium hasn't always been a happy ground for the Gunners to visit and Swansea would have been hoping to have done far better to impress their new manager Paul Clement.
Swansea didn't start too badly and Naughton came close to opening the score when Naughton's low strike was turned away for a corner by Petr Cech in the Arsenal goal.
Gylfi Sigurdsson shot over from outside of the box, but those missed chances proved crucial as Arsenal went on to take the lead after 37 minutes. Giroud failed to make contact with Aaron Ramsey's initial cutback, but Alex Iwobi kept the move alive and sent the ball back into the box towards Mesut Ozil. Ozil's headed attempt was blocked by the Swansea defence, but Giroud was on hand to fire home the rebound from close range.
Swansea didn't give up in the first half as Nathan Dyer fired a shot over the bar before the hosts saw their appeals for a penalty turned down. Sections of the home crowd believed Laurent Koscielny had fouled Ki Sung-Yueng in the box. But after seeing the replays I genuinely believe the referee made the correct decision in booking Ki for simulation. Yes, Koscielny did stick out a leg, but there was no contact with the Swansea man.
Arsenal started the second half brightly with Ramsey being denied by the feet of Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski before Iwobi's shot was deflected behind for a corner by the home defence.
The Gunners doubled their advantage within nine minutes of the restart and with a hint of luck as Iwobi's shot looped up and over Fabianski via a deflection off Cork for an own goal.
Another Swansea own goal followed 13 minutes later when Iwobi's cross-cum shot went in off Naughton. Iwobi was also involved in Arsenal's fourth and final goal as it was his great work and pass that released Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into the box. Oxlade-Chamberlain's cut back didn't quite reach Ramsey, who was beaten to the ball by an opposition player, but Sanchez was on hand to fire home the loose ball to complete a fine victory for the Gunners.
It could have got worse for Swansea had Fabianski not reacted well to get down low to save Grant Xhaka's long-range effort.
Swansea wasted the chance to score a late consolation goal when Borja headed over from Oliver McBurnie's cross and Arsenal were good value for their victory.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Swansea fan Tim James was left concerned by his side's defensive performance following this latest defeat.
"I fear we're utterly doomed unless we get a couple of centre halves in," said James. "The scoreline was a bit generous, but Arsenal absolutely deserved the result.
"Looking on the bright side, maybe people will see that Bob Bradley wasn't the problem. It's the fact that as soon as we concede, our defence collapses in on itself like a wet cake.
"It was encouraging to see us pressing in the first half, and that looked to be working, but as soon as Giroud scored it was heads down from everyone."
On the penalty incident James added: "Clement made a big deal out of it, but I wasn't too convinced by it to be honest. Koscielny sticks a leg out, no contact, but Ki takes a tumble anyway. I'm surprised if Ki would take a dive, but it's a sign of how desperate we are at the moment."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
A great win at the Liberty Stadium and a much-needed one, but it still isn't nice to see us below Spurs in the table.
I remain unconvinced as to whether we can mount a serious title challenge and we are still eight points behind leaders Chelsea, but at least this was a very encouraging result.
If we are serious then we must make sure we get nothing other than a maximum six-point haul from our next two league games against Burnley and Watford.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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