Here is Nick Ames’ match report.
Arteta's reaction
“It was an important win for us. The way we won it creates such a belief and togetherness and an atmosphere and cohesion with our fans aswell and that’s extremely necessary. This is a really young squad and we need that.
After three defeats in the first three games we had to avoid relegation. That was the first aim. Then we took it game by game ... you just have to be consistent with your vision and the way you prepare and believe the result will come.”
Lacazette's reaction
“It’s amazing to win this kind of game in the last minute. We wanted to win today because we know it’s important. After conceding the first goal it was a hard game but we didn’t give up: that is good for the team. We had a difficult January but I think we are coming back better in February and we want to continue until the end of the season.”
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Full-time: Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
Arsenal are one point below fourth-place Manchester United with two matches in hand. And the manner of this victory will swell belief that they can surge into the top four in the closing stages of the season. Wolves don’t give up leads easily so Arsenal had to work hard - with determination and ideas - until the dying minutes, and that’s what they did. The atmosphere around the ground among players an fans suggests Arsenal believe they are on their way back.
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90+5 min: It wasn’t the cleanest finish - in fact, Lacazette’s shot may not have been heading in until Sa inadvertently helped it - but the opening was created with wonderfully fast and intricate play in and around the Wolves box.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Wolves (Sa og 90+5)
They’ve done it! Pandemonium at the Emirates as Lacazette plays as nifty one-two with Pépé in the Wolves box and then prods past Sa from close range! The keeper got a hand to it and may have inadvertently helped it into the net.
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90+2 min: Tienery is down, appealing for treatment . It looks like he’s pulled a muscle.He’ll be replaced by Tavares.
90 min: There will be at least six more minutes, an announcement that brings cheers from the home crowd.
89 min: It seems Jimenez was right: he’s not the player Wolves wanted to remove. IT’s Podence who is replaced by Dendoncker. Jimenez seems to be suggesting to the ref that the yellow card be rescinded but there’s no sign that the ref agrees.
89 min: Confusion reigns as Jimenez is booked for refusing to leave the pitch after apparently being substituted ... but Lage is waving at the official, trying to explain Jiemenz is not the player to be replaced ... has the fourth official held up the wrong number?
88 min: a precious headed clearance by Saïss after a dangerous run and cross by Saka. Then Odegaard’s curler from the edge of the area skims the top of the bar.
86 min: Aït-Nouri dazzles his way down the left and then sets up Neto, who goes for goal from the edge of the area. Gabriel deflects it just wide with his knee. But the ref doesn’t spot that and awards a goal kick.
84 min: The corner is well defended. Lacazette exhorts the crowd to drum up the noise and help the home team forward ...
83 min: After scoring, Arsenal player hurried into the net to retrieve the ball. The y want victory. But so do Wolves and they’ve just won a corner ...
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Wolves (Pépé 81)
They’ve broken through! Odegaard spooned a pass over the defender from mid-way inside the Wolves half. Nketiah, at the right-hand side of the box, pulled it back for Pépé, who spun nimbly around Saïss and poked past the advancing Sa for the equaliser!
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80 min: Wolves win possession and knock it about, from front to back and back up front again. This is vexing for Arsenal.
79 min: Wolves have an authority about them. They just know what they’re doing. Arsenal just can’t break through.
76 min: Arsenal substitution: Nketiah on, Cédric off. That’s called going for it. Let’s see what it means for the formation.
74 min: Wolves substitution: Neto on, Hwang off. The counter-attacking threat has just been raised.
74 min: Saïss is in the right place again, booting clear a shot by Xhaka
73 min: Tricky skills by Xhaka at the edge of the area after Wolves fail to clear a corner. This Swiss nips the ball through to White, but the centreback can’t wrap his foot around the shot properly so the ball sails way wide from 16 yards.
72 min: Sa pushes a shot by Lacazette behind after Arsenal win the ball high up. Neves clears the corner.
71 min: Arsenal substitutions: Pépé on, Martinelli off.
71 min: Saka and Cedric combine incisively down the right. Saka tees up Partey to have a pop from 20 yards. He curls it over the bar, and wide.
70 min: Hwang, Aït-Nouri and Moutinho do brilliantly down the left until Cedric steps in to relieve Arsenal.
68 min: Lacazette has played well today without being a goal threat. Martinelli, on the other hand, hasn’t been able to get involved enough.
65 min: Having on the freekick, Lacazette decides to take it himself ... and smashes it straight into the six-man wall.
64 min: Lacazettte wins a freekick in a very promising area for Arsenal, just outside the D, a touch left of centre...
63 min: Hwang powers in a cross from the right. Gabriel heads it out for a corner. Then Tierney heads away Neves’ delivery at the near post.
62 min: Wolves substitution: Semedo can’t continue, so on comes none other than Jonny, making his first league appearance in nearly a year after knee ligament damage. Welcome back Jonny!
61 min: While Semedo continues to received treatment for what seems to be a hamstring strain, Lage summons Hwang, Podence and Jimenez over for a powwow on the sideline. He’s writing frantically on a piece of paper
59 min: With Semedo down calling for help for an apparent injury, Martinelli sprints in the area where the wingback would have been and pulls a low cross back for Lacazette. With his back to goal when he receives it eight yards out, the Frenchman spins and shoots .... high and wide.
57 min: A long ball dropped over the Wolves defence. Saka gets the run on the defenders but can’t connect properly with the ball.
56 min: The rise in tension is reflected on the sidelines, where Lage, Arteta and the fourth official are in animated discussion over the merits of a freekick awarded in an innocuous position.
55 min: Lovely skill by Partey, followed by a cute pass to Saka. He tries to wriggle free in the area and curl a shot into the net from a difficult angle. Guess what? A defender blocks it.
52 min: This is getting entertainingly fractious. There’s an extra bit of niggle in the tackles, and the crowd are also getting irked by perceived time-wasting by Wolves ... and then Coady is furious at the referee giving Arsenal a freekick after Wolves won the ball high up.
50 min: Saka’s shot from 20 yards is blocked ... the rebound falls to Partey, who’s shot is also blocked. Wolves just keep getting in the way of everything.
49 min: Podence is such a gorgeous player to watch. If he were a better finisher, he’d be world class.
48 min: Marvellous run and pass by Podence! He puts in Hwang, who tries to slide it under Ramsdale and into the net. The keeper gets enough of a touch to deflect it out for a corner.
47 min: Tierney zooms down the left and fires over a low cross. Martinelli meets it but can’t direct his shot on goal.
46 min: Off we go again. Neither manager has made a personnel change during the break.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-1 Wolves
Hwang’s goal from Gabriel’s mistake is the difference between the sides. Arsenal have threatened occasionally since falling behind but Wolves have defended masterfully, as they do. If Arsenal don’t figure out a way to penetrate in the second half, Wolves are going above them in the table and to within three points of Manchester United, with a game in hand.
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45 min: Wolves counter through Neves, then Podence. When Podence crosses from the right, Jimenez meets it near the penalty spot but flicks his header a yard wide.
43 min: Odegaard loops a pass over the Wolves defence. Martinelli dashes on to it and tries to lift it over Sa, but the keeper had sprinted off his line and is close enough to block.
41 min: A dinky short corner routine by Odegaard and Saka is interrupted by the vigilant Semedo.
40 min: Brilliant play by Moutinho in midfield, followed by a wonderful pass from deep by Neves. Semedo does equally well to beat Tierney to the ball and then trick his way past him ... only for the ball to run an inch out of play before he could cross.
38 min: Saka booked for taking out Hwang as Wolves sought to launch a counter-attack.
38 min: “Shoooooooot” The crowd urge Partey to show his power and precision from 25 yards. Instead he booms a shot into the stands.
36 min: Lacazette hassles Coady into a sloppy pass. Martinelli picks it up, swaps passes with Lacazette and then pokes it just over the bar from 12 yards.
34 min: Clever probing pass by Podence in behind Tierney. The Scot has to chase back and put it out for a throw rather than let Semedo get on the end of it.
32 min: A foxy turn by Lacazette to eliminate Neves. Then he craks off a shot from 20 yards. It’s well hit but straight at Sa.
30 min: Whereas Saka has sparkled, Martinelli hasn’t been involved much so far.
29 min: Saka has been nifty going forward and backwards so far. He just scampered back to foil a counter-attack involving Aït-Nouri and Hwang.
28 min: Sa comes for a cross from the right by Cedric but misses it completely. Tierney retrives it on the other side and hammers it back into the area. With the keeper still floundering in no-man’s land, Lacazette tries to sidefoot into the net .... but Kilman is well placed to make another block.
26 min: Wolves steal about five yards at a freekick from the back. The crowd are going potty but the ref isn’t bothered.
23 min: Odegaard’s in-swinging corner is headed away by Neves.
21 min: Odegaard, just outside the box, tickles as pass through to Lacazette, who had made smart run to invite. But Kilman went with him and blocks his shot. That’s why Wolves don’t concede many: they just keep getting in the way (and when a defender doesn’t stop it, José Sa tends to: he has a better shot-to-save ratio than any other keeper who has played regularly in the Premier League this season).
19 min: Arsenal have the ball in their own half but can’t build forward because of the quality of Wolves’ organisation and pressing from the front.
17 min: A superb run down the right by Saka. Then he veers in-field and picks out Odegaard at the edge of the box. Odegaard sidesteps one defender and then lets fly. Saïss hurls himself in front of the shot to make a vital block.
16 min: Better from Arsenal! Until Coady stretches out a leg to sent Lacazette wide of the goal. The striker’s shot from a difficult angle goes wide.
15 min: Wolves are looking much surer of themselves than Arsenal do. They’re passing and moving with real class, continually finding space. Arsenal are looking raw by comparison.
13 min: Podence finds space between arsenal’s midfield and defence, then pings a low pass into Jimenez, who has crept in between Arsenal’s two centrebacks. He drags his shot wide from the edge of the box. What a let-off for Arsenal!
11 min: A reminder that only Man City have conceded fewer goals than Wolves in the Premier League this season. Their record this season after scoring first is Won 11, Drawn 1, Lost 0.
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GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Wolves (Hwang 10)
Gabriel, by the right-hand touchline, plays a blind backpass towards Ramsdale. Hwang zips in to get to it before the keeper and then calmly slots into the net from an acute angle!
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9 min: After Arsenal’s buoyant start, Wolves are starting to get the upper hand and forcing the hosts to defend.
7 min: Moutinho’s corner is cleared at the near post. Neves helps the ball back in from the right ... and Saïss turns it into the net from six yards! But he was half a yard offside. Or was he? Yes, concludes Var after quite a long review.
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5 min: Corner to Wolves after nice work down the right by Semedo and Podence. Tierney seems to have hurt himself in the process of blocking the cross, but he’s fit enough to continue.
3 min: It’s been a snappy start by Arsenal. They’re looking very sharp.
1 min: What a bold start by Arsenal! Saka made an incursion by cutting in from the right and then fed Martinelli, who went down in the area under a challenge by Semedo. The ref ignores appeals for a penalty, and the replay suggests he was right to do so.
1 min: Wolves get the game going!
“Any idea why Smith Rowe is not even on the bench?” askes Lenny Peters. “And Tomiyasu as well?” apparently Smith Rowe is ill, and Tomiyasu has a calf problem.
Arsenal are the first team out and are greeted by gentle applause. Then come the home team ... and they’re greeted by gentle applause plus a smattering of cheers. The atmosphere is expectant rather than fervent.
Bruno Lage: “Today we go again with two midfielders, we did well with two midfielders against Arsenal the last time - that’s why I changed from Leicester (last weekend, when he played a 3-5-2). We know Arsenal are a strong team but I think we can come here and play our game ... Both teams will fight for the ball and we need to create problems for them. They are a strong team and they like to play with the ball - but I think we are also a strong team.”
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Teams
Martinelli returns to the starting lineup having served his suspension for copping two yellow cards in one move at Molineux. So Arteta starts with the same side that started that game. Wolves, meanwhile, look like they’re going to use the same 3-4-3 they used for that game but with slightly different personnel, with Hwang replacing Trincao on the right and Ait-Nouri at wingback instead of Marçal. Oh, and Moutinho’s back.
Arsenal: Ramsdale; Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Lacazette
Subs: Leno, Holding, Tavares, Swanson, Elneny, Lokonga, Hutchinson, Pépé, Nketiah
Wolves: Sa; Kilman, Coady, Saïss; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Aït-Nouri; Hwang, Jimenez, Podence
Subs: Ruddy, Marçal, Neto, Trincao, Silva, Jonny, Toti, Dendoncker, Cundle
Referee: M Atkinson
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Preamble
Hello and welcome. Arsenal and Wolves are right in the mix for a Champions League place: they’ve got matches in hand on Manchester United and West Ham and they’re both in decent form. But they can’t both make the top four – today’s clash will help determine which is more likely to get there.
Two weeks ago Arsenal won at Molineux thanks to the sort of steel they lacked earlier in the season and they followed that up by edging past Brentford last weekend. Mikel Arteta’s process is looking like it’s starting to bear fruit. But Wolves arrive in fine nick and are well capable of avenging their home defeat – they’ve already helped to knock Spurs and Leicester out of the top four running since them. Bruno Lage’s has done masterful work this season and now he has a fully fit squad to pick from, with Pedro Neto potentially adding sharpness to their attack. As some once said, admittedly of a prize bigger than fourth spot, it’s up for grabs now!.
