Arsenal implode against Wolves to lose initiative in Premier League title race

Arsenal technical coach Nicolas Jover and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. Pic: Jacob King/PA Wire.

Wolves 2 Arsenal 2

Only in the Premier League can the written off basement club come from behind to deny the championship favourites a crucial win and blow the title race wide open.

Goals from Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie looked enough to secure a seven-point gap at the top to second-placed Manchester City only for Wolves to hit back twice through Hugo Bueno and an injury time equaliser by Tom Edozie.

Tempers flared at the final whistle as the players squared up and Arsenal betrayed their panic at letting a massive win slip through their hands.

It looked like Arsenal had done just enough to beat the division’s rock bottom team with an unconvincing win. They have played a game more than second-placed Manchester City but are now only five points in front. Next up is a weekend north London derby at Tottenham when they might be only two clear.

If City win all of their remaining games, they will be champions. What drama!

Saka ended a 15-match run without a goal when he headed Arsenal ahead just inside five minutes. Declan Rice clipped in a cross from the left and the Wolves’ defence inexplicably opened up to allow Saka to steal in and stoop to score with a bouncing header through the legs of Jose Sa from six yards out.

Captain for the night, Saka’s momentum took him running through to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans. The away section here runs along the entire lower tier of the Steve Bull stand, facing opposite the dugouts and a great place to create and soak up the atmosphere when your team is winning.

The Arsenal players all gathered around their skipper in celebration while their fans rushed to the front of the stand to try to join in.

As Saka walked back towards the centre circle, he turned with a final look at the cheering hoard and mimicked signing a piece of paper, no doubt in reference to his recently agreed new five-year contract.

Or even a cheque in honour of his reported €300k-a-week bumper pay cheque. Not that footballers or many people deal in cheques these days, but the gesture was noted.

Wolves only offered any real sign of fight as the rain, turned to sleet, turned to snow and they felt aggrieved by some refereeing decisions that went against them. They responded with some crunching mis-timed tackles in various Arsenal players as they stirred each other and the relatively sparse home crowd.

Arsenal looked in complete control, without creating any great chances of note, and then had to survive a scare of sorts as Andre fired Wolves’ first shot of the night narrowly wide of David Raya’s right post.

The positive trend continued for Wolves into the second half as they continued to look the most likely to score the game’s second goal — until Hincapie ended that argument with his superbly taken first goal for Arsenal after 55 minutes.

The universally popular Ecuador defender had to survive a VAR offside correction of an errant linesman’s flag curtailing his initial celebrations before he could go to his knees to celebrate what clearly, he and his team-mates thought was the match won.

Spanish wingback Hugo Bueno then struck the goal of the night and his first in a Wolves shirt on the occasion of his 67th appearance just five minutes after Arsenal looked like they had sealed the deal.

With Wolves again the ascendancy, Arsenal looked worried once more. Arteta betrayed his feelings by making a double switch on 65 minutes by replacing Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke with Gabriel Jesus and Eberechi Eze to add more attacking edge to his side.

His next change, sending on Leandro Trossard for Saka, was forced by what looked like a possible knee injury for his goalscoring star.

For all the doom and gloom pre-match talk about, Wolves, winless for so long, arrived having lost only three of their previous 10 matches and there was a pre-atmosphere that had just the slightest air of Midlands menace and the hint that an upset might be afoot.

What started out looking like a straightforward away win was ending anything but comfortable for the league leaders.

It took two own goals to beat Wolves by the same scoreline in the reverse fixture in north London and it was ultimately the right result.

A prolonged period of added time was punctuated by a blow to the head to Trossard from an off the ball challenge by Santiago Bueno, who can feel fortunate he was not sent off.

And almost inevitably Arsenal succumbed to the latest of equalisers as Raya and Gabriel got in each other’s way to lay an open goal chance for Wolves debutant sub Edozie.

WOLVES: Sa 6, Tchatchoua 6 (R Gomes 22), Mosquera 5, S Bueno 6, Krejci 6, H Bueno 7, Andre 7, A Gomes 6 (Arokodare 22), Bellegarde7 (Edozie.84), Mane 6, Armstrong.

ARSENAL: Raya 6, Timber 6, Saliba 6, Gabriel 6, Hincapie 7, Rice 7, Zubimendi 6, Madueke 6 (Eze 65), Martinelli 6, Saka 7 (Trossard 73, Calafiori 90), Gyokeres 6 (Jesus 65).

Referee: Paul Tierney 6.