Arsenal named an unchanged eleven from the win over Everton. It was the home debut of the “AOL” front-line that impressed so much at Goodison Park. Jack Wilshere continued the resurrection of his career with another appearance on the bench, alongside Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud.

Swansea lined-up in a 3-5-2, with Jordan Ayew supporting Chelsea loanee Tammy Abraham up front and midfielder Sam Clucas filling in at left wing back. Former Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski made his 200th appearance in English football.

After nearly five minutes of Arsenal possession, they had their first sight on goal. Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette linked up on the edge of the box to get the Chilean in behind. He cut the ball back to the edge of the box for Ramsey to run onto, but his shot was blocked. Alexis threatened again down the left hand side, cutting inside but firing his shot at Fabianski.

A free-kick on seven minutes yielded another chance. Alexis’ delivery found Koscielny, but he couldn’t generate the power on his head to beat Fabianski. The Chilean was looking lively, and minutes later nearly latched onto a long ball over the top. However, the pass was slightly over hit.

With 15 minutes gone, some sloppiness was entering Arsenal’s play. A couple of attempts to play the ball forward quickly saw the ball lost in midfield. One attempted pass from Ramsey missed the midfield altogether and went out for a Swansea goal kick. A sustained period of possession in the 18th minute resulted in Alexis taking a pot shot from distance that rolled harmlessly wide of the post.

Swansea had spent the opening twenty minutes camped in their half and offering little attacking threat. Naturally, their first real attack resulted in a goal. Koscielny stumbled in a challenge against Tammy Abraham. The forward played the ball in behind Bellerin to find the run of Clucas. Cech rushed off his line to close the angle, but perhaps made the finish easier for the Swansea man. Clucas rolled it into the far corner, and gave his side the lead against the run of play.

Half hour gone, and Arsenal were showing little signs of getting back into the game. They struggled to play the ball forward, and the crowd grew more and more frustrated as the ball kept going sideways and backwards. With half-time looming, Swansea had another decent chance. Clucas found himself well-forward again, but his snap-shot from the edge of the box went wide.

Five minutes before half-time, Arsenal finally crafted a good chance. Kolasinac and Alexis combined down the left. The Chilean unleashed a fierce effort on goal and forced Fabianski into a decent stop. Whatever momentum we were building dissipated by the stroke of half-time when Mertesacker was caught dwelling on the ball in his own box. Ayew stole it from him, but was closed down by Cech before he could get a good shot off.

The visitors had the lead at half-time as the Arsenal team was booed off the pitch.