Swansea shock Arsenal
Bafetimbi Gomis scored a late, technology-assisted winner as Swansea City compromised Arsenal's quest for automatic Champions League qualification with a smash-and-grab 1-0 away victory on Monday.
Arsenal had won nine of their previous 10 games, only dropping points in a goalless draw with champions Chelsea, but after being kept at bay by their former goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, they were undone in the 85th minute.
Gomis, a 74th-minute replacement for Ki Sung-yueng, sent a header towards goal and although Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina appeared to have clawed it away, the Goal Decision System showed that the ball had in fact crossed the line.
‘We were unlucky against a team who refused to play completely and just defended,’ complained Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
‘We rushed our finishing because we had plenty of chances in the second half. It was just a question of scoring a goal.’
It was Arsenal's first home defeat in the league since November, when they lost 2-1 to Manchester United, two weeks after going down by the same scoreline at Swansea.
United can overtake Arsenal and take possession of third place by beating them at Old Trafford on Sunday, although Wenger's side retain a game in hand at home to relegation-threatened Sunderland.
Garry Monk's Swansea, meanwhile, are now a point off seventh place, which will yield a Europa League spot if Arsenal beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup final on May 30, and two points below sixth-place Tottenham Hotspur.
‘Why shouldn't we push for that?’ said Monk. ‘Today showed what we're about and we'll see where the last two games take us.
‘We worked all week on our plan. The players were magnificent and carried it out to the letter.’
With Aaron Ramsey overcoming a knock sustained in last week's 3-1 win at Hull City, Arsenal fielded an unchanged team for the fifth league game running, something that last happened in January 1994.
- Swansea organisation –
It was a sign of Wenger's satisfaction with recent performances, but although Arsenal dominated possession in the first half, Swansea's well-organised 4-1-4-1 system kept them at bay.
Ramsey set up Olivier Giroud for an early header that landed on the roof of the net, but Swansea, who deployed Gylfi Sigurdsson as a lone forward, carried menace on the break.
Ospina was required to save from Angel Rangel and Jonjo Shelvey, and though willing to drop deep in search of the ball, Arsenal dangermen Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil struggled to make inroads.
But Swansea began to commit more men forward after the interval, and belatedly Arsenal had some grass to run onto.
A loose touch by Federico Fernandez let in Sanchez, who side-footed wide, before Giroud worked former team-mate Fabianski with a tame, low shot.
Ozil released Ramsey, who sent Wales colleague Neil Taylor one way and then the other, only to lash his shot into the side-netting, while Fabianski saved a snapshot from Santi Cazorla.
With 23 minutes left, Wenger introduced Jack Wilshere in place of Francis Coquelin to add yet more guile to the hosts' midfield and Theo Walcott followed soon after, replacing Giroud.
Still Fabianski denied his former team-mates, first gathering a prodded effort from Walcott and then spreading himself at his near post to thwart Nacho Monreal, who had motored onto an incisive pass from Sanchez.
It was turning into a bravura performance by the 30-year-old Poland international, who left the Emirates Stadium for South Wales in 2014, and there was more to come.
He repelled efforts from Ramsey and Cazorla either side of a smart double-save that left Sanchez and Walcott with their heads in their hands.
Frustration turned to disbelief minutes later when Jefferson Montero clipped a cross into the box from the Swansea left and Ospina was unable to prevent Gomis's downward header from crossing the line.
User Comments:
- First T-20 match without shakib and tamim india loss
- At the age of 85, goodbye to cricket
- Shakib Ranking position change
- Bangladesh ended the first day of the unbeaten century
- Saif Hassan disappointed the chosen in the first roles
- Proteas defeats the Lankan in 2nd ODI
- IDB expresses concern over changes in Islami Bank
- 20 potential ECS names nominated
- Could not believe that Sunny Leone wanted him in 'Laila Main Laila' Shah Rukh Khan
- India beat England in the 1st T20 match
- Look your best on Valentine's Day
- Priyanka said that India will always be identified
- Global banking rules agreement 'once the dust settles in the United States
- May trumpet as host of the first foreign leader
- Do not interfere in the Bangladesh case, Qadir says foreign
- Turkey's ambassador to Dhaka
- 'Ice Age: New trailer collision: the threat of global asteroids
- Bale hits real winner
- Woman found dead in a city hotel
- Withdrawal of unemployed nurses strike
- Tangail filed on Hindu murder case
- Foreign Minister meets King Abdullah Foundation trip in Saudi Arabia, Prince Turkey
- Hasina praised Bangladesh bowling sensation Mustafizur
- Rains in Sylhet, the heat wave plays extra time in the rest of Bangladesh
- BNP chief Khaleda sees more danger than ever before in Bangladesh
- I do not want it, I want to win: Dunga
- Asks the Bangladesh government to take a strong position against killer:Denmark
- My mom is not here to meet Neetu Kapoor, Katrina Kaif clear
- ICC World T20: England Qualify For Final
- Tonu murder sad every part of the army, says ISPR
- ADB Bangladesh sees FY GDP growing at 6.7% in 2015-16
- Court orders arrest of Khaleda's deadly bus firebombing in Dhaka
- Standard Chartered cards stop working due to a down server
- Corruption can progress obstruction of a country: President
- The uncertainty of the cloud cleared, Hero 420, released Friday
- To suggest pollution to protect your skin
- Trouble in Parliament to answer questions on the delay Interior Minister
- Hasina urges teachers to promote sports
- 5D can record human history!
- I'm still a child, says Kareena
- Saudi, Russia agreed oil production freeze
- Twenty20 World Cup announced
- The death of former chief Boutros-ghali UN
- Arrest warrant issued against Daily Star editor
- Per capita income of Bangladesh 2014-15, increasing to $ 1.316 in fiscal year
- Khaleda Zia subcommittees for BNP
- BSMMU Abdul Hannan appointed new Register
- Citizens can update fingerprints for the ceremony at the office
- Executes N Korea army chief
- Twenty20 Women World Cup team announced
- Star Journo concern over the threat to the leader, its editor
- US 'Intel warning of the details of the terrorist group in Bangladesh
- To be tried Padma bridge 'conspirators': Prime Minister
- Road crashes: High Court order on all hospital emergency service
- muslin and fund research: analyst
- Chief Justice appeal eats division into three judges
- Keraniganj prime murder suspect killed in shootout school Abdullah: RAB
- Bangladesh lost a High Court for staff accommodation
- ICT sentence Taher, Noni Netrokona death
- Ghazipur knife 2 DB
- French minister at the UN sends carbon pricing
- '' Now it Rabby no bar
- Khulna JCD President Kamran held
- Police want Bank Medical College
- Fakhrul went to Singapore for treatment
- Apple warns iPhone sales to fall
- Kristen Stewart speaks up on gender inequality
- China to increase JVs in Bangladesh
- Konta 33-year British drought to break beats Zhang
- India waives visa fees Bangladesh
- Patient's death: 2 CTG doctors get bail
- Specialised police to combat terrorism: PM
- The school forced students to buy additional books
- Romance to change you as a person does
- AL betrayed the spirit of liberation war: khalida
- World Cup 2015: Dhoni's men will be wary of Bangladesh
- An eve teasing incident scarred my life
- Man allegedly kill wife
- 44 years later widows receive justice: sajib wazed joy
- Employee bonuses decline at Cognizant
- Happy loses Lawyer
- Shamsul Hoque Khan School top....... in Dhaka broad
- BNP leader Nasir Uddin Ahmed Pinto dies
- Proteas defeats the Lankan in 2nd ODI
- Dr. Yunus...................Three Zero Theory
- Turkey's ambassador to Dhaka
- 20 potential ECS names nominated
- Mashrafe-Rubel broke the English lineup
- Think different! Try sex in storeroom
- Khaleda Zia subcommittees for BNP
- IDB expresses concern over changes in Islami Bank
- High Court says : Why not second time in DU
- Woman found dead in a city hotel
- Kim Kardashian to strip nude again
- Tangail filed on Hindu murder case
- Refused bail petition of ..... Ruhul Kabir Rizvi
- Could not believe that Sunny Leone wanted him in 'Laila Main Laila' Shah Rukh Khan
- Romance to change you as a person does
- Finance Minister AMA Muhith to place budget for seventh time... Budget
- Look your best on Valentine's Day