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| Mesut Ozil, Hector Bellerin and Theo Walcott celebrating |
A whirlwind end the game as Arsenal manage to tiptoe over the line to pick up their sixth straight win at the Emirates Stadium. At 3-1 the Gunners were cruising, but Borja’s goal and Xhaka’s red card made things very interesting.
Theo Walcott struck twice as 10-man Gunners moved level with Premier League leaders Manchester City but sink on goal difference.
Sloppy and shaky defending from Swansea got punished by Walcott twice in the first half at the Emirates Stadium, taking his tally to six goals in his last five Arsenal appearances in all competitions.
Although, Gylfi Sigurdsson, leading the line with Bradley not including a recognised striker in his first line-up, marked his 100th appearance for the club with an excellent finish to give the visitors hope ahead of the second half.
Birthday boy, Mesut Ozil, celebrating his 28th birthday, then slammed a volley beyond former Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, but second-half Swansea substitute Borja Baston pegged back the hosts with his first goal for the club.
The comfortable grip Arsene Wenger’s men had on the game began to vanish when Granit Xhaka was shown a straight red card – his fourth dismissal since the start of last season and more than any other player in the top five European leagues – for lunging in on Modou Barrow with 20 minutes remaining.
However, Arsenal hung on to end a run of four top-flight home matches against Swansea without a win and join City at the summit on 19 points from eight games.