Even if it seems inevitable Arsenal will dispute PGMOL’s definition of “serious foul play” in the coming days, appealing Michael Oliver’s puzzling call to punish Myles Lewis-Skelly for a cynical trip with a red card, Mikel Arteta could take great satisfaction from a victory earned after being reduced to 10 men for an hour at Wolves.
The defender’s ludicrous first-half sending-off will dominate the discourse but the substitute Riccardo Calafiori’s priceless winner, after Wolves themselves had a player sent off when João Gomes was given a second yellow card, ensured they stay in the hunt for the title.
The problems are piling up for Wolves, who succumbed to a fourth straight defeat in which their only bona fide striker, Jørgen Strand Larsen, limped down the tunnel. Arteta knows that feeling. The Arsenal manager has not hidden his desire to strengthen his attack but Calafiori took his goal like a seasoned striker. Nélson Semedo’s headed clearance from Gabriel Martinelli’s cross dropped for the Italy defender and he swivelled and sent a first-time shot low into the far corner on the half volley.
Arsenal had seen this movie before; Calafiori’s first goal for the club was another left-foot peach at Manchester City in September. Pablo Sarabia appeared punch-drunk on the Wolves bench and the home support reverted to voicing their anger at the Wolves chairman, Jeff Shi. “Back the team or sell the club,” was the demand from the South Bank.
As the game drifted towards half-time came the decision that stunned Molineux. Wolves cleared a poor Declan Rice corner and, just outside the D on the edge of the Wolves 18-yard box, Matt Doherty seized the ball and set about storming upfield. Lewis-Skelly made a snap decision to halt the counterattack and trip Doherty, catching the defender around his ankle. It was a touch crude but not high, forceful or malicious, a tactical foul if ever there was one. Oliver had a prime view of the incident and immediately informed the officials he planned to pull out a red card. Then he flashed it at Lewis-Skelly. Just as curious was the VAR Darren England’s swift decision to back Oliver’s call.
“I am absolutely fuming,” Arteta said after but at the time he managed to keep his counsel. Gabriel Magalhães, Arsenal’s captain in the absence of the unwell Martin Ødegaard, quizzed Oliver, by now surrounded by raging red shirts. At the interval, three security guards rushed to flank the referee, who had Gabriel for company as he headed down the tunnel. The Arsenal manager said he hopes the right thing will happen, alluding to how Bruno Fernandes’s red card against Tottenham was overturned in October.
“It’s a really good precedent what happened with Bruno this season. If we cannot change actually what happened [in the game], hopefully at least it will be fair for the team, for the player and everybody what is going to happen in the next few weeks.”
Calafiori entered at the interval in place of Ethan Nwaneri, who was involved in Arsenal’s two big first-half chances, both of which culminated in Kai Havertz dragging his fingers down his face in frustration. For the first Nwaneri shunted the ball into Martinelli centrally and he located Leandro Trossard on the left wing. The Belgian dinked a right-foot cross towards the back post, where Havertz got above Santiago Bueno and dropped a header wide of a post. Five minutes later, another Havertz header forced José Sá into an instinctive save with his right leg.
At the other end David Raya clawed a deflected Matheus Cunha shot, which took a nick off the returning William Saliba, out for a corner. From Sarabia’s subsequent delivery, Cunha side-footed wide and theatrically crashed to the turf. Emmanuel Agbadou executed an expert slide tackle on Martinelli, reminiscent of André’s all-encompassing but clean first-half challenge on Nwaneri in front of Arteta. Vítor Pereira held on to these moments as positives.
“We cannot compare this game with the game against Chelsea [a 3-1 defeat],” said the Wolves head coach. “Against Chelsea I saw my team just reacting and reacting. Today I saw my team confident and in the moments we had to suffer we suffered together. Sometimes football is very tough.”
Just as it felt Wolves were dialling up the pressure, João Gomes hit self-destruct in the 70th minute. Booked in the first half for booting the ball away, he picked up a second yellow card after going in late on Jurriën Timber and inadvertently clamping the ankle of the Arsenal full-back. The Wolves midfielder looked to the skies and crouched to the floor as Oliver confirmed the news. This time it was obvious. Arsenal, who struck four minutes later, had the leg-up they required.
