Arsenal continued their impressive run of form in the Premier League this weekend, after producing a satisfying second-half performance against Swansea.
Goals from Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell helped to cruise the second half, after spending the majority of the game on the back-foot of the Swans.
The Gunners headed to the Liberty Stadium with injury concerns at the full-front of Arsene Wenger’s mind, following a frustrating mid-week result at Sheffield Wednesday.
As four youngsters made their club debut on Tuesday night, there were short-lived games for Theo Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain who pulled up early.
Following that disappointing turn of events, the boss was forced to make some changes to his starting eleven, and ask his players to pull a performance out against an unpredictable Swansea side.
And in a game that challenged these players mentally and physically, there were a few talking points to bring up that will be a learning curve for many Gunners supporters.
1 – Campbell Can Contribute
It was probably talked about more than the game itself ahead of kick-off, and it seems every Arsenal fan has there opinion on the youngsters ability.
Believe it or not, Arsene Wenger’s decision to implement Joel Campbell onto the right wing was the Costa Rican’s first Premier League start in an Arsenal shirt.
And if things weren’t difficult enough, the midfielder was now required to prove his doubters wrong, and give a performance worthy of the boss’ comments earlier in the week.
So what did we learn from Campbell? Well, he was well and truly up for the challenge after racking up 38 key touches whilst playing alongside Hector Bellerin.
And although he took a while to get his composure together on the flank, Campbell stayed alert throughout the game and was rewarded in the 73rd minute with a goal.
At 2-0 up the winger ran to join the action as Arsenal countered a weakening Swansea defence, and eventually picked up the scraps to calmly slot home a strike that confirmed all of the points.
It’s not going to be an overnight thing with Campbell, he’s rarely had a chance to get used to a regular squad and has been forced to work with a disappointing Mathieu Debuchy for most games.
A steady string of games is what he can get under his belt now, and the goal towards the end seemed to shed the relief of impressing the loyal supporters.
His next test could be Bayern Munich, and then the small matter of a North London derby, so the next seven days could prove to be vital in his chances to remain on the starting sheet.
Click the page numbers below to see the other two lessons learned.