SWANSEA CITY 0 ARSENAL 3
Arsenal - Giroud 49’, Koscielny 68’, Campbell 73’
Arsenal remain hot on the heels of Premier League leaders Manchester City thanks to a 3-0 victory over Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
A first half goal from Olivier Giroud and second half efforts from Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell kept the second-placed Gunners level on points with City.
Although Swansea had their moments, it was pretty much plain sailing for Arsene Wenger’s side as they got back on track following their shock League Cup loss at second tier Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.
Wenger made seven changes to the side beaten at Hillsborough, including a first Premier League start for Costa Rica forward Campbell.
Having waited patiently for his chance, Campbell found himself in the thick of things early on as Arsenal quickly took control.
A far post cross, in the seventh minute, was only half cleared by Swansea leaving Nacho Monreal with a genuine chance to score.
Unfortunately, Monreal’s shot was weak and wide of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski’s far post.
The Gunners had to ride their luck minutes later when Jonjo Shelvey threaded a delightful ball into the path of Bafetimbi Gomis, who to the surprise of the Arsenal back four, found himself with only Petr Cech to beat.
But Gomis took too long in choosing an option and allowed Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin to clear the danger.
Gomis, keen to make up for his earlier blunder, headed into the arms of Cech in the 21st minute and five minutes later Giroud should have done better when Santi Cazorla released him inside the Swansea area.
Giroud got a good connection, but the ball sailed high and wide of the target.
Shortly before half time, and having once again found themselves in a position of promise, Arsenal missed another golden opportunity.
This time it was Campbell who fluffed his lines from the edge of the penalty area.
Arsenal’s frustration finally gave way to elation when they broke the deadlock four minutes into the second half.
Mesut Ozil whipped in a corner from the left and Giroud, who lost marker Ashley Williams with a degree of ease, headed firmly home.
Swansea’s response was immediate. Gylfi Sigurdsson brought out the best in Cech, and then from 20 yards and from the ensuing corner, Cech had to stretch to clear a deflected header from Federico Fernandes.
Yet Arsenal regained their composure and made the game safe with two goals in the final quarter, albeit in somewhat controversial circumstances.
A deflected cross-shot from Bellerin should have been claimed by Fabianski at his near post.
However, the Pole flapped at the ball, lost his balance and gifted Koscielny the most simple of tap ins.
Swansea boss Garry Monk was clearly dissatisfied with referee Kevin Friend who he felt should have awarded a free kick.
Five minutes later, the game was over when Ozil crossed from the left for Campbell to control and beat Fabianski.
It was a special moment for Campbell after four years without an Arsenal goal.
Swansea huffed and puffed in the final 15 minutes but barely created a chance of note as Arsenal kept the pressure on City.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 0 STOKE CITY 0
Goalkeeper Jack Butland made several second-half saves to help Stoke earn a 0-0 draw at Newcastle.
Butland denied Moussa Sissoko twice, including a stunning effort with seven minutes remaining, and also made stops from Ayoze Perez and substitute Jamaal Lascelles as Newcastle again failed to make the most of its chances. Aleksandar Mitrovic also hit the post for Newcastle in the first half.
Stoke created little of note despite enjoying a fair share of the possession, with three players failing to get a touch on Charlie Adam’s driven cross in the 17th minute.
Newcastle remained in the relegation zone with just one league win so far this season. Stoke is 13th.
WATFORD 1 WEST HAM UNITED 0
Watford - Ighalo 39’, 48’
West Ham’s inconsistent season continued as they were beaten 2-0 by Watford while they had James Collins sent off late on.
Having recorded victories over champions Chelsea, leaders Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool this season, the Hammers have struggled against the relative minnows.
They previously lost at home to both Bournemouth and Leicester City, and failing to beat Norwich City and Sunderland.
And they were out of sorts as an Odion Ighalo brace knocked the Irons out of the top four.
It could have been worse too as Nathan Ake, Ighalo and Troy Deeney all went close in the first half, West Ham goalkeeper Adrian saving well from Ake.
The opener came on 39 minutes after a gaffe from West Ham’s giant striker Andy Carroll, whose scuffed clearance in his own box fell to Ake to tee up Ighalo to bundle in.
Watford doubled their lead just after the restart when another poor clearance, from James Tomkins this time, allowed Ighalo to fire his seventh goal of the season into the roof of the net.
Slaven Bilic’s team did have their chances but Enner Valencia could only hit the post after pouncing on a poor back pass.
And worse was to follow late on as Collins was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Ighalo.
The win moved Watford up into mid-table security.
West Ham drops to fifth.
WEST BROM 2 LEICESTER 3
West Brom - Rondon 30’, Lambert 84’ (pen)
Leicester City - Mahrez 57’, 64’, Vardy 77’
Leicester scored three goals in 20 minutes to beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 with England striker Jamie Vardy netting in his eighth straight Premier League game.
Vardy is two games away from matching Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record set in 2003 and is the league’s top scorer with 11 goals in 11 matches.
Riyad Mahrez had already scored in the 57th and 64th minutes as the visitors remained unbeaten on the road. Vardy added a third in the 77th.
Salomon Rondon’s second goal in two games put the Baggies ahead at The Hawthorns after half an hour but they missed the chance to record three successive wins for the first time since 2012.
Rickie Lambert scored his first goal for Albion from the penalty spot late on.
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