IT’S THE SAME OLD STORY
Gunners can’t hang on to lead as Gomis turns game on head
There was torrential rain in Swansea, a goal by Alexis Sanchez and the collapse of Arsenal’s painfully fragile defensive unit. Stop me if you’ve heard it before.
Five days after his team surrendered a 3-0 lead in europe against Anderlecht, Arsene Wenger saw another lead washed away. Only these lost points will perhaps prove even more damaging as defeat leaves Arsenal trailing a dozen points behind Barclays Premier League pacesetters Chelsea.
What a weekend it has been for Jose Mourinho and how Wenger must wonder if it would have been better to bid farewell in the afterglow of an FA Cup win at Wembley.
his side struggle with familiar problems: the inability to defend a lead and the character to resist setbacks. Two clean sheets have been followed by two lost leads. For every step or two forward there is one back.
The squad lacks depth in defence and the back four is being held together with sticking plaster. regardless, Wenger maintains his footballing principles.
As the Premier League breaks for international football, 11 games into the campaign, Arsenal feel too far off the pace. They are a point behind Swansea, who responded brilliantly after going behind in the 63rd minute.
Garry Monk’s side were behind for 12 minutes before Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled with a superb free-kick and Bafetimbi Gomis scored in the winner, his first in the Premier League, seconds after coming on to replace Wilfried Bony.
Swansea survived a chaotic finish and a desperate penalty appeal when a header from Yaya Sanogo skidded into Neil Taylor’s arm and, without injured wingers Nathan Dyer and Wayne routledge and with Jonjo Shelvey suspended, they deserved their win.
how they celebrated at the end, no- one more so than former Arsenal duo: goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and centre back Kyle Bartley, starting his first Premier League game of the season.
For an hour it had been a tense struggle, littered by fouls, cautions and treatment for injuries, contrary to expectations from two fluent passing teams. Swansea had started well, Arsenal fought back and, ultimately, Wenger’s team paid the price again for their inability to close ranks and protect a lead.
ecuadorian winger Jefferson Montero tormented Calum Chambers, who has the look of a talented teenager in need of a break. Montero was too quick and direct for Chambers and created the winner with a burst of acceleration down the left wing and a perfect cross for Gomis to head in.
Monk was rewarded for refusing to flinch. Gomis was stripped and ready to come on when Sigurdsson curled his free- kick over the defensive wall and into the top corner from 25 yards, beyond the dive of Wojciech Szczesny.
Wenger disputed the free-kick but it was awarded after a cynical trip by Kieran Gibbs to halt a swift counter-attack by Modou Barrow, a Gambian striker.
Monk went for the kill rather than attempt to protect the point. On went Gomis as planned and he had scored within seconds, after winning the ball and linking in with his midfield.
Play was swept out to the Swansea left, where Montero tore past Chambers and clipped an inviting cross towards Gomis, who climbed above Aaron ramsey and Nacho Monreal to thump his header inside the post.
Arsenal had been 15 minutes from victory but were rarely comfortable and it is hard to escape the feeling that Swansea’s refusal to give up was motivated at least in part by the fact Wenger’s team are so brittle. They can be got at. It is not a new theory but there is, it seems, a psychological weakness within a superbly gifted team, and it is costing them in the toughest competitions.
Monk felt his team should have had an early penalty when Chambers barged into Bony as the Ivorian controlled a ball on his chest. Bony fell in a heap and there was exaggerated disbelief inside the Liberty Stadium as referee Phil Dowd ignored calls for a foul.
It was the sort of reaction commonly found at the emirates, but Monk has generated a similar feeling in South Wales, after an extended public whinge about poor decisions costing his team.
Szczesny saved from Marvin emnes, but Arsenal grew stronger as the first half progressed and their best moments revolved around Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and his desire to run at defenders.
Neil Taylor and Ki Sung-Yeung were cautioned for fouls on him and Dowd’s yellow card count was in double figures by the end.
Fabianski thwarted Danny Welbeck, ramsey lashed a volley close and Per Mertesacker beat Bartley to a corner only to head wide. The Polish goalkeeper, who left Arsenal after winning the FA Cup in May, also saved a skiddy drive by Santi Cazorla — but was unable to keep Sanchez at bay.
Oxlade-Chamberlain broke out of defence, rode an attempted trip by Tom Carroll and found Cazorla. he released Welbeck who pulled his cross deep to Sanchez.
The Chilean swept the ball into the net. It was his 12th in 14 games, but that is not where Wenger has problems. It is at the other end, where it always has been.
The heavens opened and Arsenal went under.