Arsenal consolidate second spot with 3-0 win; Manchester City edge past Norwich

Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny celebrates with Olivier Giroud after scoring their second goal against Norwich. (Source: Reuters)

Mesut Ozil set up two goals as Arsenal used a second-half barrage to beat Swansea 3-0 Saturday in the Premier League.

The win helped Arsenal bounce back a loss to Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup as the Gunners shrugged off their many injury concerns to seize back some momentum going into a crucial Champions League trip to Bayern Munich.

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After a hesitant first half, Olivier Giroud broke the deadlock by heading in Ozil’s corner in the 49th minute for the 2,000th goal Arsenal has scored under manager Arsene Wenger.

Laurent Koscielny then doubled the lead in the 68th despite protests from the home team that Giroud had fouled goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski in the buildup, and Joel Campbell marked his first Premier League start by slotting in the third in the 73rd after being set up by Ozil.

The win keeps Arsenal tied with leader Manchester City, but still behind on goal difference.

“We needed this win before the big game on Wednesday,” Giroud said. “We started slowly but we created chances to score. But needed to wait until the second half to put them in.”

Campbell was given a start on the right wing with Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all out injured — joining long-term absentee Danny Welbeck — and the Costa Rica striker rounded off the win with an emphatic finish.

Swansea had the best chance of the first half when Bafetimbi Gomis was sent through clear on goal and rounded Petr Cech, but Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin used his speed to track back and make a sliding challenge to clear the ball just as Gomis was about to slot it into an empty net.
Man City stays top after beating Norwich 2-1 in EPL

Manchester City needed a late penalty from Yaya Toure to secure a 2-1 win over 10-man Norwich that kept the team atop the Premier League.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart’s error gifted Norwich’s Cameron Jerome an unlikely equalizer seven minutes from time at the Etihad Stadium.

City had looked in control before that after finally breaking the resilient Canaries with a firm header from Nicolas Otamendi after 67 minutes.

But Hart then dropped the ball after claiming it from a cross and Jerome equalized.

Norwich had captain Russell Martin sent off for blocking Raheem Sterling’s shot with his arm and Toure rifled home the resulting spot kick in the 89th.

City was awarded a second penalty in injury time but Aleksandar Kolarov missed.

Norwich was thrashed 7-0 on its last visit to the Etihad two years ago and set out to avoid a repeat and sat deep to frustrate the hosts.

But openings inevitably came and Wilfried Bony missed three good chances in the first half. John Ruddy saved one of them but two others were blasted wide.

Vincent Kompany headed wide from a corner and City’s frustration continued after the break as Bony was denied another shooting chance by a well-timed tackle by Sebastien Bassong.

Raheem Sterling was summoned from the bench after 54 minutes and the hosts eventually made their breakthrough from a set-piece midway through the second half.

Kevin De Bruyne delivered an excellent corner from the right and Otamendi, hovering near the penalty spot, rose unchallenged to power a firm header past Ruddy.

De Bruyne was withdrawn soon after as City boss Manuel Pellegrini perhaps started to turn his attention towards Tuesday’s Champions League trip to Sevilla.

City slipped into cruise control mode and were punished for a rare Hart gaffe.

The England number one looked to have claimed Robbie Brady’s cross from the right but dropped the ball as he landed and Jerome pounced from close range.

Norwich had just minutes to hold on but Ruddy cracked as he lost the ball under pressure from Fernandinho on the edge of the area.

Fernandinho went down on the edge of the area under Ruddy’s challenge but the ball rolled on to Sterling. His snap-shot was blocked by the arm of Martin and referee Robert Madley immediately pointed to the spot and brandished the red card.

Toure rifled home the penalty but that was not the end of the drama in what proved a chaotic finish.

Hart atoned for his earlier error by denying Martin Olsson with a fine save in injury time and Toure appeared to react angrily to being substituted by Pellegrini.

City was then awarded a second penalty as Sterling was tripped by Brady but Kolarov shot wide with the last kick of the game.