Mesut Özil scores clincher as 10-man Arsenal go second with Swansea win

Premier League rookie Bob Bradley barking out orders on his first game in charge of Swansea

Welcome to the madhouse, Bob. This was an historic occasion, with an American manager taking charge of a Premier League team for the first time. It was one that Bob Bradley will never forget, even if he and Swansea City came out on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller.

Every time that Arsenal looked to have taken a decisive grip, Bradley’s men rallied. First, Gylfi Sigurdsson cut a 2-0 deficit in half, towards the end of the first period and, on 66 minutes, the substitute Borja Bastón pulled it back to 3-2 with his first goal for Swansea, after his £15.5m summer move from Atlético Madrid.

It was an afternoon that Granit Xhaka would rather forget and the Arsenal midfielder was sent off for a cynical chop on the electric Modou Barrow, which left his team with 10 men for the final 20 minutes. Swansea ramped up the pressure and, during a gripping finale, Barrow and Sigurdsson missed gilt-edged chances.

Swansea could not force the equaliser and it meant that the club had equalled their worst-ever start to a season. Bradley, though, could see positives, all of which were rooted in the sturdiness of his team’s approach and the overall sense of boldness.

“Not one of us will walk out of here feeling good,” Bradley, who replaced Francesco Guidolin before the international break, said. “But we can build on that kind of mentality. It’s a start.”

This was a game that Arsenal might have won several times over. Theo Walcott scored two, missed a golden chance from close range and twice hit the woodwork. And yet there could be no mistaking the sense of relief from those with Arsenal in their hearts when it was over.

Xhaka was the player who made things more difficult for his team. The Switzerland international had been at fault for Sigurdsson’s goal, having tried to beat him in his own defensive third only to lose possession to him but it was his challenge on Barrow that turned the closing stages into an ordeal.

Barrow had outstripped him but the Swansea winger was not in an overly dangerous position on the flank and Xhaka did not have to foul him. He clearly thought that he would take the yellow card and regroup but, to his horror, the referee, Jon Moss, brandished a straight red. Arsène Wenger described it as “harsh” and he complained that Barrow had “made a lot of it”. But he also promised to speak to Xhaka. “He has to learn from it,” the Arsenal manager said. “It was a dark yellow and the referee went for bright red.”

Mesut Özil volleys in the goal that eventually clinched Arsenal’s victory. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Bradley – an all-action presence in his technical area – used a 4-4-2 formation, with Sigurdsson and Leroy Fer as the starting strikers, but his team were undermined by defensive errors. Jordi Amat took a heavy touch following Héctor Bellerín’s headed cross and he was then levered off the subsequent chase for the ball by Walcott. Lukasz Fabianski was not convincing when he left his line and Walcott squeezed home. 

Arsenal’s second came when Jack Cork stooped to head Santi Cazorla’s corner clear only for the ball to ricochet back to Walcott, who had the time to take a touch, spin and beat Fabianski. Shkodran Mustafi had earlier hit the top of the crossbar with a header while Alexis Sánchez and Bellerín had gone close.

Arsenal looked comfortable but Swansea refused to accept defeat. Sigurdsson’s finish was of the highest order – a curling left-footer into the far corner – and Amat spurned a decent headed opportunity to equalise in first-half stoppage time from Sigurdsson’s free-kick.

Walcott fluffed a volley for his hat-trick before Özil decided to show him how it was done, from a much more difficult chance. Sánchez’s cross was looped high to the back post and Özil cut across the ball beautifully with his left foot to send it screaming into the roof of the net.

Back came Swansea. Barrow laid on Bastón’s goal, after skinning Nacho Monreal, and Fer blasted high after Bellerín’s weak clearance. Swansea pushed after the red card but Barrow’s free header lacked power, Sigurdsson lifted over from Barrow’s cutback and Fer, twice, could not convert with headers.

On the counterattack, Walcott hit the post and, at the very end, the crossbar. Wenger would criticise his players for their lack of focus at 2-0 and 3-1 but they squeaked home.

It was a sixth straight victory in the league and Arsenal now sit joint-top of the table. “It was a comfortable afternoon that finished very uncomfortably,” Wenger said.