Swansea 3-1 Arsenal: Sam Clucas strikes twice either side of Petr Cech's blunder to leave Arsene Wenger's men eight points off the top four

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Arsene Wenger has spent so much time looking for firepower that he seems to have overlooked the wild blaze spreading among his backline.

The argument will be that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang can save the day and testing of that theory is imminent, with the striker ticking off the final details on his move from Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.

But unless he can stretch his talents to protecting a woefully inadequate defence then there ought to be a limit on Arsenal’s ambitions. The fact of the matter is this latest defeat took their tally of conceded league goals to 34.  

Swansea midfielder Sam Clucas (left) draws the home side level two minutes after Nacho Monreal's opening goal

The Englishman celebrates after levelling the scores during the first half of the Premier League showdown 

Howler: Shkodran Mustafi passes back to Petr Cech (1), the Arsenal goalkeeper fluffs his clearance straight to Jordan Ayew (2)

Cech's mis-hit clearance lands at the feet of Ayew (3) gifting the striker a simple chance which he duly accepts (4)

Clucas (centre) watches on as his strike flies past Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech (right) at the near post

Jordan Ayew (centre) of Swansea scores his side's second goal against Arsenal in the Premier League on Tuesday night

The Ghanaian wheels away after tapping into an empty net to give his side the lead at the Liberty Stadium

Petr Cech shows his frustration after his error allowed the Premier League's bottom club to go ahead in the second half

Ayew (centre) celebrates with his team-mates after scoring a crucial goal in his team's fight against relegation

MATCH STATS, PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE 

Swansea (5-4-1): Fabianski 7; Naughton 6, Van der Hoorn 7, Fernandez 7, Mawson 7.5, Olsson 6.5; Dyer 7 (Carroll 83), Fer 7, Ki 6.5, Clucas 8.5 (Routledge 90); Ayew 7.5 (Bony 88) 

Subs not used: Abraham, Narsingh, Nordfeldt, Bartley

Goals: Clucas (24, 86), Ayew 61 

Manager: Carlos Carvalhal 7.5 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Cech 5; Bellerin 6, Mustafi 5, Koscielny 5.5, Monreal 7; Ramsey 7, Elneny 7 (Mkhitaryan 60, 6), Xhaka 5.5; Ozil 6.5, Lacazette 5, Iwobi 5.5 (Giroud 76)

Subs not used: Ospina, Chambers, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Nketiah 

Goal: Monreal 33 

Booked: Elneny, Bellerin, Ozil

Manager: Arsene Wenger 5 

Referee: Lee Mason 7.5

MOM: Sam Clucas

Attendance: 20,819

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That is more than West Brom, who moved bottom of the table with Swansea’s giant leap to 17th. It is worse than Brighton, as well, and tied with Newcastle.

So, yes, a brilliant striker will be nice. But beautiful houses built on quicksand, and all that.

There is also Arsenal’s away form to factor in — the road show really has become a freak show. Five away games in all competitions have now passed since they won one, which is their worst run since 2012. Broadened out, they have taken just 13 points from a possible 39 on their travels this season. 

Shoddy numbers and shoddy performances, with this one undone by their failure to hold a lead for more than a minute after Nacho Monreal put them ahead.

Sam Clucas immediately got the leveller from a Mesut Ozil mistake, Jordan Ayew got the second after a clanger from Petr Cech and the third, by Clucas, was scored amid weak defending.

Clucas smashes home Swansea's third goal of the night to seal the three points and lift them out of the bottom three

The 27-year-old celebrates after putting the finishing touch on a fine performance from Carlos Carvalhal's men

Swansea players congratulate Clucas after he capitalised on yet more poor defending from the visiting side 

Arsenal full-back Nacho Monreal (left) opened the scoring with a first-time finish at the back post from Mesut Ozil's cross

Monreal (left) looks on as his effort beats Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski during the first half at the Liberty Stadium

The Spanish defender wheels away after giving the north London outfit the lead in Wales on Tuesday evening

Monreal (centre) celebrates with his team-mates after scoring the seventh goal of his six-year Arsenal career

Wenger was furious and pinpointed ‘confidence’ for the absurdity of beating Chelsea in the Carabao Cup in their most recent home game but failing to win against Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, West Brom, Chelsea and Swansea in those last five travelling assignments.

But to dwell on Arsenal, their many errors and the vast spaces they left between midfield and defence, would be to underplay Swansea’s effort and wider turnaround. They have now won 10 points from a possible 15 under Carlos Carvalhal and the transplant in attitude and performances has been immense.

Anyone who claims they predicted the club would now be outside the bottom three under a man sacked by Sheffield Wednesday is surely a liar. Back-to-back wins against Liverpool and Arsenal suggest he was done a disservice, particularly as Arsenal went with their big guns for this game.

New signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan (right) and Chelsea-bound Olivier Giroud started on the bench for Tuesday's clash

Aaron Ramsey (left) makes a vital block to prevent Alfie Mawson (centre) from opening the scoring at the far post

Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi forces a fine save out of Fabianski at his near post after wriggling free of his marker

Indeed, Wenger picked a strong side, making only one change to the XI that walloped Crystal Palace last time out in the league, with Jack Wilshere ill and replaced by Aaron Ramsey, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan started on the bench in anticipation of his debut. 

Curiously, he was joined there by Olivier Giroud, who came on late despite his expected move to Chelsea today.

For his part, Carvalhal kept the same side that beat Liverpool at this ground. They attacked at will and with incision, to the point they controlled the opening half an hour. 

Their best chance came when Leroy Fer threaded to Clucas and he was briefly one-on-one before Mohamed Elneny chanced a slide in the area and pulled it off. Swansea called for a penalty but it was an immaculate challenge and brilliant officiating — credit to Lee Mason and the forgotten virtue of refereeing with one’s eyes.

The gut punch for Swansea is that Monreal scored his fourth of the season almost immediately afterwards, with a goal made by Ozil. But Swansea were quickly level. 

This time Ozil was too loose in possession, playing infield and straight to Alfie Mawson, who passed forward to Clucas. Laurent Koscielny wasn’t tight enough and Clucas collected the pass before nailing a near-post goal that the home side deserved.

Mkhitaryan (right) replaces Mohamed Elneny (left) during the second half to make his debut for the Gunners 

The Armenia playmaker was unable to prevent his new team dropping more points in the race for the top four

Giroud and Ramsey look dejected after Swansea's third goal minutes before the referee's final whistle 

Brilliant entertainment, crazy storyline.

Mkhitaryan was given his debut in the second half but the immediate response from his team-mates was to gift a goal to Swansea, with Cech scuffing a back-pass straight to Jordan Ayew. His eighth goal of the season was just about the easiest. Nathan Dyer then hit the post and Wenger gambled by sending on Giroud the night before his £18m move to Chelsea.

But like just about everything else in Arsenal’s recent away games, the manoeuvre didn’t work out and Clucas got his second from close range four minutes from time. Carvalhal did a little dance.

Aubameyang has his work cut out.