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Swansea Stun Arsenal As Newcastle Soar

Published

10 years ago

November 9, 2014

Swansea City came storming back from a goal down to sink Arsenal 2-1 while Tottenham Hotspur’s misery continued with a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Stoke City, making it a nightmare Sunday for north London.
Alexis Sanchez struck his sixth league goal in four games to give Arsenal the lead at Swansea but Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bafetimbi Gomis replied to hand Arsene Wenger’s team their second Premier League defeat of the season.
Tottenham slipped to their fourth home defeat of the campaign while resurgent Newcastle United recorded their fourth successive league win with a 2-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion. Everton drew 1-1 at Sunderland in Sunday’s other match.
A drab game at the rain-soaked Liberty Stadium sprung into life in the second half when Danny Welbeck cut inside and showed excellent composure to lay the ball off to Sanchez with the goal begging.
The Chile forward slotted his 12th Arsenal goal in all competitions this season to give the visitors the lead with 63 minutes gone.
The lead lasted 12 minutes as Sigurdsson powered a sublime free kick into the top corner of the net to spark a Swansea comeback.
Three minutes later, with the home crowd roaring the Swans on, substitute Gomis gave them the lead with one of his first touches, rising high to nod in Jefferson Montero’s cross.
“We threw the game away,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports television.
“You have to win the games you can win and today was one. If you want to challenge for the Premier League you have to be a bit more realistic.”
Victory for Garry Monk’s side catapulted them to fifth in the league with 18 points from 11 games, one place above Arsenal (17 points).
SORRY SPURS
Having won at Asteras Tripolis in the Europa League three days earlier, the rigours of juggling continental and domestic competition again proved too much for Spurs against a Stoke side who had previously won just once on the road this season.
Former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic scored his first Premier League goal with a brilliant solo effort to give Stoke the lead at White Hart Lane after six minutes.
Things went from bad to worse for Mauricio Pochettino’s side when Jonathan Walters tapped in Mame Biram Diouf’s pass 12 minutes before the interval.
Spurs desperately tried to mount a comeback in the second half and Nacer Chadli’s powerful drive made it 2-1 with 13 minutes left but it was too little too late for the home team.
“It’s clear from the results that we need to improve, we need to improve a lot,” Pochettino said.
“We need to find a solution quickly. My challenge in the next few weeks is to change the mentality and to find that solution.”
The defeat piled more pressure on Pochettino with his team lying 12th in the table on 14 points. Stoke climbed to ninth with 15 points.
NEWCASTLE REVIVAL
Goals from Ayoze Perez and Fabricio Coloccini ensured Newcastle’s recent revival continued at the Hawthorns.
Perez scored his third goal in three games with a sublime backheel from a Daryl Janmaat cross to put the visitors ahead on the stroke of halftime.
Netherlands right back Janmaat then crossed for defender Coloccini to double the lead after 62 minutes with a close-range header.
Newcastle are now eighth on 16 points, a remarkable turnaround for a team that only recorded their first win of the season last month.
Despite dominating possession, Everton fell behind at Sunderland to a stunning 25-metre free kick from midfielder Seb Larsson in the 67th minute.
England defender Leighton Baines equalised with a penalty 14 minutes from time but Everton had James McCarthy to thank for the point after the midfielder cleared Wes Brown’s stoppage-time header off the line.
The draw left Everton 10th on 14 points while Gus Poyet’s Sunderland jumped a place to 14th, three points above the relegation zone.