Arsenal battled from behind to claim a 2-1 victory over Swansea and keep up their 100% home record.

First half

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.

Second half

Arsenal made a sloppy start to the second half with several over-hit passes. Xhaka, especially, was having difficulty finding an unmarked team-mate from five yards away. With the crowd growing more frustrated, the team forced the issue a bit. Lacazette managed to squirm his way behind the Swansea and get the ball back to Ozil, who sliced it across goal. It deflected into the path of Kolasinac, who hammered it into the far corner to get Arsenal level.

Then, in true Arsenal style, they almost went straight behind as Swansea attacked and found space in their box. Abraham turned the ball in, but was caught offside. Evidence, if you ever needed it, that concentration has never been this side’s strong suit.

The momentum, though, was with Arsenal. Some sharp combination play between Lacazette and Ramsey earned us a free-kick. Alexis whipped in a devilish cross that found a free Koscielny. He couldn’t make full contact, and the ball bounced wide. That should have been 2-1 right there.

Thankfully, they didn’t rue that missed chance. 57 minutes gone, a wonderful switch of play from Xhaka found Kolasinac free on the left. He had time to take it down and find Ramsey in the box. His deft finish squeezed in at the near post to give Arsenal the lead and brighten the mood of the home support.

With over an hour gone, confidence seemed to be flowing through the Arsenal team. The passing was snappier, and the delivery into the box was much improved. Bellerin was played in down the right hand side, and his driven cross just missed the head of Lacazette. The French striker then hit the target a minute later, turning in the box and striking a left-footed effort straight at Fabianski.

Arsenal continued to push for that third goal. A Swansea corner was just about cleared and set Bellerin away on the counter. He found Ozil, who switched the play to Ramsey. The Welshman clipped the ball towards the back post to a stretching Bellerin, who managed to steer the ball onto the crossbar.

With fifteen minutes to go, the game slowed to walking pace. Arsenal were comfortable in possession and keeping Swansea’s minimal attacking threat under control. Kolasinac, who had changed the second half, limped off for Rob Holding. His first involvement was to play an under-hit forward pass and force Xhaka to slide in and concede a free-kick.

A little later than usual, but expected nonetheless, Olivier Giroud came on for Alexandre Lacazette with ten minutes to go. Swansea, meanwhile, introduced two pacey wingers in Nathan Dyer and Luciano Narsingh in an effort to liven up their front-line. Seven minutes to go, young striker Oliver McBurnie was thrown on.

Arsenal were still looking comfortable and making openings down the left hand side. Xhaka played Monreal in behind, whose cross found Giroud. His volley went wide. With the 90 minute mark approaching, Giroud had another effort. He worked some space on the edge of the Swansea box and fired a shot just wide.

What started out as a very frustrating afternoon full of growns, sighs and boos ended with a comfortable 2-1 victory for the Gunners.