EPL: Flamini own goal adds to Arsenal woes

London Arsenals spluttering title challenge suffered another major blow as Mathieu Flaminis lastgasp own goal forced the Gunners to settle for a 22 draw against Swansea City on TuesdayArsenals Per MertesackerArsene Wengers side looked set to bounce back from Saturdays humiliating 60 defeat at Chelsea after two goals in the space of 60 seconds midway through the second half from Lukas Podolski and then Olivier Giroud erased Wilfried Bonys early opener at the Emirates StadiumBut Flamini deflected the ball into his own net from close range in the final moments to leave Arsenal six points behind leaders Chelsea with only seven games leftThat devastating setback may well herald the end of fourthplaced Arsenals title bid and even their place in the top four isnt secure as fifthplaced Everton currently six points behind the Gunners have a game in hand and will host Wengers team at Goodison Park in AprilWhile Swansea boss Garry Monk was pleased to escape with a point he was furious with referee Lee Proberts decision to blow for full time with Jonathan de Guzman set to shootThe players were magnificent but I spoke to the referee and told him it was a very poor decision We were clean through on goal Monk saidWenger added It is very disappointing but we have to take it on the chinThe spirit and effort were great but after getting to 21 we were too conservative Our confidence level had been affected by Saturdays resultWenger had offered his flops a chance for redemption following the capitulation at Chelsea in his 1000th match in charge and he made just two changes with Thomas Vermaelen replacing the injured Laurent Koscielny and Flamini coming in for PodolskiKieran Gibbs and Alex OxladeChamberlain were also available to start after the Gunners won their appeals against Gibbs mistaken identity dismissal at Chelsea and the FAs subsequent attempt to punish OxladeChamberlain for handball on the goallineOxladeChamberlain almost made the most of his reprieve in the opening moments when he seized on a poor headed clearance from Ashley Williams and fired in a fierce halfvolley which was parried away by Michel VormWenger had tried to remain upbeat after the Chelsea massacre proclaiming just because an accident has happened doesnt mean you are a bad driverBut the Gunners were destined for another costly crash as Swansea took the lead in the 11th minuteVermaelen had lost his place after some shaky displays earlier in the campaign and offered the chance to prove Wenger wrong the Arsenal captain instead allowed himself to be exposed again when Neil Taylor advanced unchecked before swinging over a fine cross from the leftBony showed greater anticipation than Vermaelen and muscled his way in front of the Belgian centreback to guide a superb header past Wojciech Szczesny for his 20th goal of the seasonBooed off at halftime Arsenal desperately needed an early goal after the interval but there was no immediate improvement and Wenger sent on Podolski for OxladeChamberlainThe Gunners pushed Swansea to defend deeper as the half wore on and they finally equalised in the 73rd minuteGibbs accelerated past Angel Rangel to reach the touchline before clipping a perfectlyweighted cross back to Podolski who volleyed home from close rangePodolski wasnt finished yet and 60 seconds later the German surged away down the left and drilled over a low cross that French striker Giroud met with an emphatic finish into the roof of the net for his 19th goal of the seasonBut Arsenals capacity for selfdestruction came back to haunt them in agonising fashion as Swansea equalised in the 90th minuteWith the points almost in the bag Arsenals statuesque defence allowed Leon Britton to play a onetwo with Rangel on the edge of the penalty area and when the midfielders shot was blocked by Per Mertesacker the ball cannoned off Szczesny and then onto Flamini who unwittingly deflected it into his own net