New Look Gunners Begin With A Win.

Despite a flat-footed performance, Adre Arshavin’s bizarre strike was enough to give Arsenal their first win of the season against struggling Premiership new boys Swansea City.

The Gunners, armed with new signings Mikel Arteta and Per Mertersacker, flew out of the starting gates in front of 60,000 at the Emirates. 

Arteta dictated the play in the opening 20 minutes, providing chances for both Aaron Ramsey and Robin Van Persie although neither could add finishes to Arsenal’s quick and dominant attacking play.

Theo Walcott thought he had opened the scoring when his effort slipped past Thomas Vorm, but on loan Spurs defender Stephen Caulker denied Walcott, clearing the England International’s effort off the line and away from danger.

Unfortunately for Gunners fans old habits seem to die-hard at the Emirates and it wasn’t long before Arsenal’s tempo dropped and the flowing, crisp play was replaced with poor, wasteful passing and a cluttered, static final third. 

Swansea settled into the game but never really challenged Wojciech Szczesny, Danny Graham’s poke at goal from close range providing the only credible threat to the young Polish keeper’s goal.

As Arsenal’s attacking play became more complacent and Swansea’s back line grew in confidence, it appeared that only an error from the visitors would allow Arsenal to open the scoring.

That error came after 40 minutes when City keeper Thomas Vorm rolled the ball away after collecting a deflected shot. Rather then finding the waiting feet of a Swansea player, Vorm’s throw bounced of the heels of defender Angel Rangel and straight to the feet of Arshavin who his strike, from a tight angle, into the unguarded net.

Neither side were able to rejuvenate their play after the break, and although Swansea saw more of the ball, their increased possession failed to create clear cut chances for the majority of the second half, although Scott Sinclair did skim the top of Szczesny’s crossbar with a well struck free-kick, while Caulker managed to scoop an effort just over the bar late on.

The Gunners could have doubled their lead when Van Persie struck the post with a right foot drive, while Maroune Chamank’s header from 5 yards was directed straight into the grateful hands of Vorm as Arsenal squandered opportunities to seal the victory before the final whistle.

With this win Arsene Weneger hopes to have silenced some of his critics as the Gunners finally have a notch in their win column while Swansea have still failed to score in their first four games of the season.