Swansea 3 Arsenal 2: Wenger again frustrated by defensive errors

Arsène Wenger called on his side to show more composure when under pressure after Arsenal slumped to consecutive league defeats with their 3-2 loss at Swansea City.

Robin van Persie had fired the Gunners into an early lead in Wales but Scott Sinclair pulled the home side level from the penalty spot before Nathan Dyer finished well to put Brendan Rodgers’ team into the lead.

Theo Walcott equalised for the Londoners soon after but Arsenal were level for less than a minute as Danny Graham raced through on goal and finished past Wojciech Szczesny to secure victory for the Welsh side.

“It is difficult to understand what is going on,” said Wenger, whose side remain in fifth place in the table, four points behind Chelsea above them.

“I don’t know, I feel we are a bit too nervous. We cannot panic every time they have the ball in the final third of the pitch. We have to show more composure and ambition. I think we panicked a bit too quickly today.

“It is always a concern but on the other hand there is a good spirit in the side and a desire to do well. But we have dropped six points in a row now that we should not have.”

Wenger, however, did reserve praise for an impressive Swansea’s display at the Liberty Stadium – and admitted a poor defensive performance from his side was to blame for the loss.

“The game was difficult because Swansea played well,” he continued. “It was also decided by some strange decisions from the referee, who gave a penalty that was complete imagination.

“From then on I thought there were some odd turning points, like when we came back to 2-2 and made a defensive mistake straight away. It looked similar to Fulham to me, the lack of appreciation for the ball. Our defensive performance was not good enough and that’s why we lost the game.

“I think we also missed some unbelievable chances that are very difficult to understand and explain. But apart from that, well done to Swansea, they played well and deserved the win.”