Swansea City defeated Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night to put a dent in the Gunners' title hopes.
With Leicester City drawing with West Brom on Tuesday, the chance was there for Arsenal to bridge the gap with the league leaders but Arsene Wenger's side failed to make the most of the opportunity.
Joel Campbell opened the scoring for the Gunners with a lovely sliding finish from Alexis Sanchez's clipped ball on 15 minutes but the home side were unable to hold onto their advantage.
Swansea hit back just after the half-hour mark when Jack Cork played in Wayne Routledge who slotted beyond Petr Cech for his first league goal since December 2014 but the equaliser incensed Wenger as Olivier Giroud appeared to be fouled by Jordi Amat just before the ball fell for Cork.
Nevertheless, the goal stood and Arsenal had a game on their hands after a dominant beginning.
With just over 15 minutes remaining, the Swans hit the lead when Gylfi Sigurdsson's dangerous free-kick hit the thigh of an unsuspecting Ashley Williams and dropped into the back of the net to give the Welsh club their third win over Arsenal in the past four meetings between the clubs.
The win saw Alan Curtis' side move six points clear of the drop zone while Arsenal, who lost on Sunday to Man Utd, stayed third and are now six point in arrears of Leicester.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Arsenal: 1 (Joel Campbell 15')
Swansea City: 2 (Wayne Routledge 32', Ashley Williams 74')
Emirates Stadium, London - 59,905
TALKING POINTS
- Why do Arsenal always make it so hard for themselves? They were by far the better team in the first half but could not add to Campbell's early goal. The title fight just become a lot harder.
- A huge win for Swansea in terms of their relegation battle. They are now in pole position to avoid the drop if they can replicate that performance.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Arsenal will now focus on Saturday's massive North London derby with Tottenham at White Hart Lane as Swansea prepare to host fellow relegation battlers Norwich.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Difficult defeat, but still in the fight !! A blessing for the goal !! #GOGUNNERSGOpic.twitter.com/hoed2EL4LB
— Joel Campbell (@joel_campbell12) March 2, 2016
Great win!3 points!This win is for our coach get well soonNow time to prepare for saturday.thanks to all the fans! pic.twitter.com/Ln4owFvumb
— André Ayew (@AyewAndre) March 3, 2016
very important win for us. This will boost the spirit of the team to fight and stay above the relegation I'm happy to start the game
— Bafétimbi Gomis (@BafGomis) March 2, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
Arsenal's Wenger on the result being more important than his side's title pursuit:
"At the moment I am worrying more about the result. We've just lost three games and that is always a very difficult moment for the team.
"So at the moment we don't dream, we have to be realistic and come back to what we do well."
Swansea coach Curtis on making formation changes in the absence of ill manager Francesco Guidolin:
"We felt we had to change the shape early on in the match, because in the first 15 minutes they kept coming and coming.
"But don't tell the boss about that!
"We pushed Andre Ayew out to the right and Wayne Routledge to the left and that just had the desired effect."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
3 - Arsenal have lost three consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since April 2010. Feeble.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 2, 2016
10 - Since gaining promotion to the PL in 2011, Swansea have won more points at the Emirates than any other side. Bossed.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 2, 2016
17 - Arsenal have hit the woodwork more than any other team in the Premier League this season. Clang.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 3, 2016
