Arsenal 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Arsenal’s habit of finding solutions, even on nights when fluency deserts them, kept their title charge intact as they edged past bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers in dramatic fashion at the Emirates Stadium.
This was not a performance that will be replayed in training-ground montages. For long spells, Mikel Arteta’s side looked short of ideas against a Wolves team content to defend deep, slow the tempo and wait for moments to break. The surprise was not that Arsenal struggled, but that Wolves so nearly escaped with a point.
The visitors were the more incisive side in a disjointed first half. Hwang Hee-chan broke clear from halfway only to be denied by David Raya, while a rare slip from Piero Hincapié allowed Jørgen Strand Larsen a sight of goal just before the interval, his effort smothered by a recovering defence. Arsenal, by contrast, failed to register a single shot on target before the break, an unwanted first for them in the league this season.
Persistence, rather than invention, eventually tilted the balance. The breakthrough came from a familiar source in the 70th minute when Bukayo Saka’s inswinging corner caused chaos. The ball sailed over Sam Johnstone, clipped the inside of the post and rebounded off the goalkeeper before crossing the line. It was a cruel way for Wolves’ resistance to be broken, but also a reminder of Arsenal’s efficiency from set pieces.
Wolves appeared to have salvaged an unlikely point when Tolu Arokodare, making his mark in the Premier League, struck in the 90th minute. The celebrations were short-lived. Deep into added time, Yerson Mosquera turned the ball into his own net under pressure, handing Arsenal all three points.
It was messy, uncomfortable and far from dominant. But victories like this, scraped from frustration and late drama, are often what define champions.
