Arsenal became the first visiting team to score two goals at the Liberty Stadium, but it wasn't enough to get any points off of a rampant Swansea City, who showed incredible resilience in coming back from an early 1-0 deficit to down the Gunners 3-2. It was, of course, Robin van Persie who got things going for the visitors, scoring in the 5th minute after a neat through ball from Andrei Arshavin and some neat footwork that culminated in a dinked finish over Michael Vorm.
Swansea Vs. Arsenal, 2012 Premier League: Swans Win 3-2 Thriller
If the Swans were supposed to be intimidated by the early goal, they failed to follow the script, winning a penalty when Kieran Dyer kicked Aaron Ramsey in the leg* 11 minutes after van Persie's opener and then converting via Scott Sinclair, whose bottom corner shot was so perfectly place that Wojciech Szczesny had no chance of stopping it even though he dove the right way.
*In real time, it looked as though Ramsey had clipped Dyer, but slow motion replays clearly show it was the other way around.
Halftime saw the introduction of Gylfi Sigurdsson to the Swansea midfield, and that led to the hosts completely controlling the match. While Thierry Henry was warming up along the touchline, Arsenal were rocked by another goal - Joe Allen feeding a pass to Dyer through a confused back line and the move was finished off with a scorching shot. At 2-1 and with the Swans dominant, Arsenal looked in grave danger of losing, but a well-taken Theo Walcott goal against the run of play gave the Gunners reason to hope for some points from the match.
That optimism lasted less than a minute, with Danny Graham replying in spectacular fashion 45 seconds later as the striker raced onto a pass and slotted past Szczesny from a difficult angle to make it 3-2. A late flurry of Arsenal attempts were thwarted via a combination of Arsenal's finishing and good work from Michel Vorm, and the Londoners never looked like getting an equaliser (which they wouldn't have deserved).
Arsene Wenger and company now find themselves four points behind Chelsea for that vital fourth Champions League spot, and with a tough stretch of games coming up they could well be in some trouble now. Swansea, meanwhile, jump into the top half of the table. It doesn't look like they're going anywhere.
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