Two goals from Theo Walcott and one from the man celebrating his 28th birthday, Mesut Ozil, was enough to secure Arsenal a 3-2 win over Swansea City.
Despite going two-up, and eventually three-one up, the Swans kept going and pulled goals back through Gylfi Sigurdsson and Borja to keep them in the tie.
Arsenal went down to ten-men when Granit Xhaka was sent off for a tackle on Barrow, but the Gunners held on to move up to second, and level on points with leaders Manchester City.
Here’s three things we learnt from the game:
Theo Walcott’s impressive form is not stopping
Despite a less than exciting display with England, Walcott slipped back into his impressive Arsenal mode during yesterday’s game. Another two goals, both scored through persistence and desire to get the ball in the right positions, summed-up his display, and in truth he really should have had a hat-trick. The winger had six shot in all, which consisted of two goals and two efforts that hit the woodwork as Arsenal countered in the latter stages of the game.
His passing rate was impressive too, with 92% of his passes being successful. However, it’s his consistency to hit the target which is really improved this season. The Englishman took 28 games to score five last season, but during this campaign already he has five in eight league games. His new mindset is really proving well for the club.