Arsenal have scored four goals in a 36-minute period either side of half time to run out comfortable 4-0 winners against Swansea City.

The Gunners had struggled during the early stages but two own goals - as well as strikes from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez - ensured that they eased to three points at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea have leaked plenty of goals this season but they appeared to begin the match with the intent of avoiding any early slip-ups, and it took 14 minutes for either side to get a shot on goal.

That chance fell to Gylfi Sigurdsson on the edge of the penalty area, but the Swansea playmaker was unable to keep his shot down from 20 yards.

Arsenal had offered nothing for much of the opening half-hour but they came close to taking the lead when Sanchez cut inside onto his right foot before forcing Lukas Fabianski into a solid intervention at his near post.

The home side continued to have the better of proceedings but eight minutes before the break, Arsenal went in front through Giroud, who fired into the roof of the net from close range after Mesut Ozil had seen a header blocked by a defender.

A minute before the break, Swansea felt as though they should have been awarded a penalty when Laurent Koscielny appeared to bring down Ki Sung-yueng, but the midfielder was cautioned for diving after dragging his foot into the challenge.

Swansea would have been encouraged when they returned for the second half, but they fell two goals behind soon after the restart when Alex Iwobi's shot took a huge deflection off Jack Cork and looped over Fabianski and into the net.

Despite Arsenal doubling their advantage, Swansea remained a threat and Wayne Routledge and Federico Fernandez both squandered chances within minutes of each other as the Welsh team looked to mount a comeback.

However, any hope they may have had went when Arsenal netted a third midway through the second half, with Iwobi again proving instrumental in putting the ball into a threatening area and Swansea defender Kyle Naughton diverting it into his own net.

It got worse for Swansea six minutes later when Sanchez got on the scoresheet after rifling the ball into the net from close range following good work from substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The one-sided scoreline gave Arsene Wenger the chance to introduce Danny Welbeck for his first Premier League appearance since May 8 but the forward was unable to mark his cameo with a goal.

Granit Xhaka tested Fabianski with one long-range effort during the closing stages but the game soon petered out as the visitors settled for victory by a four-goal margin.