How quickly times change. Six weeks after being booed off against Aston Villa, Arsenal have opened up a two-point lead at the top of the table, their odds on winning the title have been slashed and Arsene Wenger is being described as the best manager in the Premier League by a Tottenham Hotspur supporter by the name of Lord Sugar. "A nice compliment," the Arsenal manager said when told about Sugar's tweet.
With 17 years in the job, Wenger knows when he is on to a good thing, which is why he refused to subscribe to the view that it was the end of the world when Arsenal lost on the opening day. Arsenal’s record in all competitions since 13 March reads: played 21, won 18 , drawn two, lost one.
“It’s terrible to lose the first game of this season but that was the first one we had lost since March,” Wenger said, after watching his side register an eighth successive away win in the league to equal their club record.
“I was proven right by the fact that, after that we have responded in a positive way. We have improved. We have good stability.”
The Arsenal manager said he was missing "seven quality players" against Swansea. Without that injury crisis, Serge Gnabry, the 18-year-old German winger who opened the scoring, would almost certainly still be waiting to make his Premier League debut.
Aaron Ramsey set up Gnabry's goal with a wonderful reverse pass and went on to score a superb second to steal the show once again. It was Ramsey's eighth goal in nine club appearances this season. He is in the form of his life.
"His fitness levels are not normal," Jack Wilshere said. "He's naturally so fit he can score at any time in the game. He's pushing on in the 94th minute. He's got his confidence back, which is nice to see."
For Swansea, who have failed to win in eight league games at home, defeat was hard to stomach. There had been nothing to choose between the teams until a four-minute spell around the hour mark when Arsenal turned it on and Swansea switched off. By the time the excellent Ben Davies pulled a goal back nine minutes from time, the damage was done.
Guardian Service