Analysing another defensive masterclass from Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny against Swansea

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In a week where Arsenal’s 31-year-old centre-back Laurent Koscielny signed a new deal at the Emirates, the French international celebrated his 200^th Arsenal appearance with yet another commanding Premier League performance to add to his collection for the season.

Although the 4-0 score-line might not suggest that Koscielny had much to do during the 90 minutes at the Liberty Stadium, it was in fact a different story and the Gunners’ captain excelled once again.

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Swansea have been known for a while to be Arsene Wenger’s supposed ‘bogey team’, and going into the clash on Saturday Arsenal had lost six of the last ten meeting between the sides.

Paul Clement’s first match in charge seemed to be going with the form-book for the opening fifteen minutes, with the Welsh outfit looking confident and passionate under their new manager, and Kyle Naughton forced Petr Cech into a good save early on as the hosts pressed.

Yet they were met by a defender arguably in the form of his life for Arsenal this season, with the Frenchman setting up his defence tightly and limiting Swansea to few real sights of goal.

Koscielny stood out in defence on Saturday, making 100% of his aerial duels on top of nine clearances and four interceptions as he kept an adventurous Swansea City side at bay throughout.

When compared to his Arsenal teammates this season, Koscielny’s individual statistics seem even more impressive. The 31-year-old comes out on top in each of the following categories:

• Tackles won (29)

• Tackle success (94%)

• Clearances (117)

• Headed clearances (67)

• Blocks (13)

• Goals (2)

This is an astonishing feat, and shows just how integral Koscielny has been to this Arsenal side this season; it’s now clearer than ever to see why Wenger was so keen to sort out a new deal for the defender, especially with Bayern Munich reportedly sniffing around.

The only negative to come out of Koscielny’s performance came during the first half, when he appeared to clumsily catch Ki Sung-Yeung inside the area and nothing was given for it; on later review, however, it seems that Ki left his leg hanging and that a penalty would have been harsh.

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After their third win in four Premier League matches, Arsenal are right back in the title race and now sit only a point behind Tottenham in second.

With games against bottom-half sides coming up at the Emirates before the key clash at Stamford Bridge, Koscielny will be a vital component in ensuring that the Gunners keep it tight at the back.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Fransisco Javier Hernandez.