Arsenal survive to claim gutsy win over Swansea City

Ten-man Arsenal have secured a sixth straight Premier League victory after holding on to claim a 3-2 win against Swansea City in Saturday's clash at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners began the game brightly against a side that has given them trouble in recent fixtures and went on to take the lead in the 27th minute.

Mesut Ozil sent a ball to the back post, which Hector Bellerin then nodded on towards Theo Walcott, who was being marked by Jordi Amat.

Despite the Spaniard appearing to have the situation covered, his clumsy touch allowed the England man to nip in, win the ball and bundle it over the line.

Just six minutes later the hosts had doubled their lead as Walcott claimed a brace, and once again the goal came about because of poor Swansea defending.

Federico Fernandez and Jack Cork failed to clear an inswinging ball, giving Walcott all the time in the world to take a touch in the middle of the box and slam home.

New Swansea head coach Bob Bradley, however, saw his side virtually gifted a reprieve as Granit Xhaka gave away possession to Gylfi Sigurdsson deep in Arsenal's half in the 38th minute.

The Iceland international then curled the ball beyond Petr Cech and into the far corner to halve the deficit ahead of the half-time whistle.

Arsene Wenger's charges were edgy after the restart but they soon found their groove and restored their two-goal lead just before the hour.

Ozil, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Saturday, got the better of Fernandez at the back post and ferociously volleyed into the roof of the net from an Alexis Sanchez cross.

However, the Gunners let their healthy lead slip once again when Modou Barrow burst past Nacho Monreal and crossed into the path of substitute Borja Baston, who rattled home from close range.

In the 69th minute, Xhaka was shown a straight red card for a cynical challenge on Barrow, prompting Bradley to adopt a more attacking approach and go for Arsenal's jugular.

Despite Swansea's desperate attempts to claw themselves back into the game, however, Arsenal were able to see things out on the pitch to claim all three points.

The result means that the Gunners climb to second in the Premier League table, level on points with leaders Manchester City.

Swansea, meanwhile, slip into the bottom three, occupying 18th place in the rankings.