Sead Kolasinac once again proved his worth for Arsenal as he scored one and set up another in their 2-1 home victory over Swansea.
The Gunners didn't have it all their own way and fell behind to a goal from Sam Clucas before Kolasinac, who joined the club following the expiry of his contract at Schalke this summer, levelled the scores early in the second half. Kolasinac then set up Aaron Ramsey for the all-important winner against an opponent that has proved to be a banana skin for us in the past.
Kolasinac puts in good solid displays each time he puts on the shirt and was definitely a bargain in my eyes. He seems to show no fear and always gives his all and has already popped up with some crucial goals. Kolasinac scored the crucial equaliser in the Community Shield victory over Chelsea and also in the home win over FC Cologne in the Europa League. He's not afraid to get stuck in and looks an excellent addition and his contribution against Swansea means he now has a combined five goals and assists in his first six home matches at the club.
Kolasinac was substituted 12 minutes from time due to what manager Arsene Wenger describes as a repetition of a muscle injury in his hip, but it sounds like his withdrawal was more of a precaution with the club hopeful he will be available for the next league match. Hopefully he won't be out long as he has already established himself as a key figure in our defence.
The overall team performance wasn't perfect, but we did what was needed most and got the result and all three points. We could have put the result beyond doubt earlier in the match had we been better with our finishing in the early stages.
Arsenal wasted three chances inside the opening 10 minutes of the match. Ramsey saw an early effort blocked by the defence before Alexis Sanchez saw his low strike comfortably saved by former Gunner Lukasz Fabianski. Fabianksi was forced into another save soon after, but it was rather routine as he easily held Per Mertesacker's header.
Sanchez then sent a shot wide from distance and those missed chances came back to bite Arsenal as Swansea took the lead after 22 minutes. Tammy Abraham's well-timed pass released Clucas to run in behind Hector Bellerin to slot the ball home for his first goal for the Welsh club. The Lincoln-born midfielder missed the chance to add a second goal when he shot wide five minutes before the break.
Both teams had chances to score in the closing stages of the first half, with Fabianski producing an excellent one-handed save to tip over Sanchez's powerful effort. Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech reacted quickly to block Jordan Ayew's strike out for a corner after the Swansea man had robbed Metersacker of possession in the box.
Arsenal improved in the second half and turned the game on its head with two goals in seven minutes. Mesut Ozil's pass was blocked, but the ball rolled across the box and Kolasinac was on hand to power it home for his first Premier League goal within six minutes of the restart.
Abraham very nearly put Swansea back in front immediately as he had the ball in the net at the other end, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Laurent Koscielny headed wide from a Sanchez free-kick soon after, but Arsenal made no mistake with their next attempt as Ramsey gave them the lead for the first time in the match. Granit Xhaka played a long ball over the top to Kolasinac and scorer turned provider as the defender cut it back for Ramsey to score his 50th goal for the club. The goal would have been all the more frustrating for Swansea fans what with Ramsey being a former player of their bitter rivals Cardiff.
At 2-1 it was still a dangerous scoreline with more than enough time for Swansea to get back into it and we really should have made more of the chances that came our way. Ramsey sent an effort high and over the bar before Alexandre Lacazette shot straight at Fabianski.
Arsenal then came close to scoring from a counter attack as Ramsey set up Hector Bellerin and the defender stretched to get a foot to the ball, but his effort hit the crossbar and bounced over.
Swansea weren't out of it yet as Abraham tried to get the Welsh side back in the game, but after a good first touch and control his shot on the turn went wide.
Olivier Giroud was unable to make a decisive impact as the substitute twice sent shots wide, with the second effort grazing the side netting, but Arsenal held on to their lead to take the points.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Swansea fan Tim James was surprised by the margin of the result at the Emirates and still believes manager Paul Clement is the right man for the job.
"This was pretty much the result I expected," said James. "We no longer have Sigurdsson and Llorente and it's difficult to see where our next goal is coming from.
"I was surprised that we took the lead and I hope this represents the turning of a corner for Sam Clucas.
"I think Clement is still the man to take us forward and I hope he gets some backing in January.
"We had our own injury worries coming into this game and I'm surprised that the result was as close as it was. I can't comment on the game itself, but there seems to be positive signs there."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
For the third consecutive game we came from behind to win and, although that shows great character it does pose the question why we keep falling behind?
Yes, no team is ever going to take the lead in every single game and it is inevitable to fall behind sometimes, but our defence can be too vulnerable and some of the goals conceded this season could have been avoided. That is among the reasons why we are not in a serious challenge for the title and we are already fifth and nine points behind leaders Manchester City.
We need to tighten things up at the back and also be more clinical in attack. The chances we missed weren't easy sitters or anything like that, but they can still be a decisive difference between winning, drawing or losing a game.
With a trip to title favourites Manchester City up next in the league, followed by a derby match against Tottenham, we need to make our chances count. These are two huge games head and ones we need to avoid losing if we are to stand any chance of doing anything this season. If we turn up and play the way we can when we are at our best then we could maybe, just maybe, do well in these games. But I just can't see it happening, well not in both games anyway, and I fear us crumbling in one of them. So let's just hope the team can prove me wrong and go out there and put out two massive performances!
But before then our focus switches to the Europa League and the visit of Red Star Belgrade. It took a late goal from Olivier Giroud to beat them in Serbia and we will need a much-better display this time. Let's hope the team can deliver just that and put us a step closer to qualification into the knock-out stages.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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