The first half was a cagey game with neither team dominating. Arsenal had more of the possession but failed to carve out any significant chance until shortly before halftime.
Danny Welbeck was played in but chose to shoot at the near post, an easier save for Fabianski.
In the second half the game started to open up and it was Arsenal who scored first, a brilliant goal on the fast break scored by Alexis Sanchez, set up by Santi, the Ox, and Welbeck.
Swansea equalized when Sigurdsson scored a superb free-kick and then scored the winner when Gomis headed home a Montero cross.
Arsenal created two chances to pull even in the dying moments, but Walcott and Wilshere were unable to even pull the trigger, leaving Arsenal’s title hopes in tatters.
Arsenal’s defence appears unable to defend high crosses, a fate they could have avoided had they bought a central defender before the transfer deadline.
The decision to even sell Ignasi Miquel on the final day appears bizarre as he would have provided better coverage than poor Monreal (who was not to blame for this defeat).
Arsenal also need to work on their corners, which are not yielding any chances, let alone goals.
Player Ratings:
Szczesny 5. Not to blame for the first goal, but on the second he just stood rooted to the spot (he probably wouldn’t have got it). Gordon Banks would have dived, Wojciech …?
Chambers 4. He battled hard, he’ll probably have a black eye this week, but he had a miserable day. Montero had him for lunch and toyed with him most of the afternoon. It was Montero who set up Swansea’s winning goal. Wenger should consider bringing in Bellerin to the team and moving Chambers into the middle.
Mertesacker 5. He played well for most of the afternoon, but he needed to keep Gomis away from the high balls and he didn’t.
Monreal 5. Actually he was reasonably good for most of the afternoon. Size wise he shouldn’t be playing as a centre back.
Gibbs 6. It was Gibbs’s foul that allowed Sigurdsson to unleash his magic. On the other hand, he had to commit it as nobody was in the middle to stop the run. Gibbs was solid for the most part the rest of the time.
Flamini 5. He was not able to physically impose himself upon the game and times when he was missing.
Ramsey 5. Took a couple of shots at goal, but his shooting boots need to be changed. Not as influential as one would have hoped.
Cazorla 6. Busy, nice pass to set Welbeck free to set up our goal. One decent chance, which he hit at the keeper. Set pieces were lousy and need more work. Struggling right now.
Oxlade-Chamberlain 7. My man of the match. Started the game making several poor passes, but he settled in and made a number of nice runs. Looked our most dangerous player on the day.
Welbeck 6. Missed a decent chance in the first half, set up our only goal, and he worked hard most of the game.
Sanchez 7. A well taken goal, but he didn’t shine as brightly as he has recently. Lost the ball a couple of times in our half. Still, he works harder than most and he still is at the heart of most of our moves.
Substitutes:
Wilshere 4. Setup by the Ox as the final whistle met Phil Dowd’s lips, but he couldn’t take the shot.
Walcott 4. Walcott couldn’t control Sanchez’s long pass, which if he had would have allowed him to go round the goalkeeper.
Sanogo n/a. Was on the field long enough to commit an unnecessary foul in extra-time.