Winless Wolves found a new way to lose, conceding two own goals and falling 2-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
MORE — Arteta, Saka react to win
The Premier League-leading Gunners were dull for most of this game and looked to have dropped points when Tolu Arokodare heading home in stoppage time.
But Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera headed a Bukayo Saka cross into his own goal, the same peril suffered by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone on an earlier Saka corner kick, and Arsenal increased their table lead to five points before Man City play Sunday.
WATCH — Arsenal v Wolves full match replay
Wolves remain 20th with two points from 16 games. They are 13 points behind 17th-place Nottingham Forest.
Star-crossed Wolves, referees shower gifts on Arsenal
The talk after this game will feature platitudes about how “sometimes title winners need luck” but that absolutely avoids the main point — first-place Arsenal needed 20th-place Wolves to make 20th-place mistakes to get three points at home.
That is not ideal.
Credit to Rob Edwards’ Wolves, of course. They played well enough for a point and scored the only on-purpose goal of the game. But Arsenal put just two of their 16 shots attempts on target and turned 70% possession into just 1.02 xG. The first own goal even came off a corner kick that appeared to be awarded after Saka’s offside run behind the Wolves back line. This was a slog and had better serve as a warning to the Gunners, not some sort of fate-willed victory.
As for Wolves, well... this stings so deep for Edwards and his crew. They showed commitment and grit, and found their way back to level terms in stoppage time. For all of that, they stay stuck on two points and are now 13 points back of safety with 22 matches left on their docket.
Heart-broken Rob Edwards reacts
Thoughts on the game: “It’s hard to come out and talk to you at this moment, I’m not going to lie. We’ve lost another game of football, ultimately. I can make a lot of excuses, it’s Arsenal away. But we lost the game ourselves. The two goals we conceded we quite bizarre, but to work that hard to get back in it and show a lot of fight, a lot of courage, all of the things we’re asking for. Yeah it hurts. It hurts.”
“There’s a lot there to like but I hate losing. What we’ve come into is difficult. We’re going the right way about it but so far in the five games we’ve seen (makes roller coaster gesture) but we’re in the results-based business. We have to do the same basics. Stop the cross, defend the cross. If that hadn’t happened I’d probably be feeling very different so that one moment is going to change a lot of opinions and emotions. Congrats to Arsenal, it’s why they are where they are and ultimately it’s probably why we are where we are.”
Appreciated Wolves’ effort: “Tonight we saw it for the whole thing. We couldn’t switch off. They don’t let you switch off. We saw fighting spirit, togetherness, all of it. Proud of many aspects of it. Proud of the supporters for sticking with it. To travel all this way and have it snatched away, I feel for them.”
What’s next?
Arsenal go to Everton at 3pm ET Saturday before a December 23 tie with Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarterfinal.
Wolves host Brentford at 10am ET Saturday.
Arsenal vs Wolves final score: 2-1
Sam Johnstone o.g. 70', Tolu Arokodare 90+1', Yerson Mosquera o.g. 90+4'
Arsenal vs Wolves live updates — by Nick Mendola
Yerson Mosquera own goal — Arsenal 2-1 Wolves
Saka swings in a cross from the right and it’s another Wolves own goal off the head of Yerson Mosquera, who was marking Gabriel Jesus.
Tolu Arokodare goal — Arsenal 1-1 Wolves
WOW.
The big sub, Tolu Arokodare, bodies up Piero Hincapie and turns a header past David Raya to draw this game level in the first minute of stoppage time!
Gabriel Jesus makes his return
The Brazilian is finally back from his long-term knee injury and replaces Victor Gyokeres in the 81st minute.
Sam Johnstone own goal — Arsenal 1-0 Wolves
Bukayo Saka’s inswinging corner kick hits the inside of the far post then Johnstone. It’s over the line.
What a brutal way to go behind for the basement dwellers.
Wolves subs
Jackson Tchatchoua and Tolu Arokodare are into the game for Matt Doherty, who is on yellow, and Jorgen Strand Larsen in the 69th minute.
Johnstone on Rice again
Moments after Johnstone gets a finger tip — the tippiest tip — to a Rice free kick, he’s got more work to do with a remarkable left-handed glove save on Rice’s 19-yard curler.
Arteta makes three subs
Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, and Mikel Merino come into the game for Eze, Martinelli, and Zubimendi in the 58th minute.
Back underway
No subs yet.
Halftime — Arsenal 0-0 Wolves
The Gunners had 74% of the ball and six shots but have produced just six shot attempts.
They aren’t making the best choices, as evidenced by Gabriel Martinelli heading a cross back into the mix instead of trying to squeeze it inside the near post.
That said, Wolves have had two decent opportunities to get dangerous shots toward goal and both times delivered less than impressive efforts after good work to get to the opening.
Ben White injury
We haven’t seen a lot of Ben White this season and we won’t see any more of him today.
Looks like a leg muscle injury, and Myles Lewis-Skelly will enter the game in the 31st minute.
Hee-chan Hwang goes on a long dribble
It’s Wolves on the counter as Hee-chan Hwang grabs the ball in his own end and bursts alone into the Arsenal half, chased by a horde of Gunners.
Jurrien Timber gets the closest to Hwang as he shoots from the right side of the 18, but he’s been forced wide enough that David Raya can comfortably stoop to collect the ankle-height bid for the far post in the 27th minute.
Johnstone saves Rice
Bukayo Saka gets to the right flank and spins a cross to the back post that’s missing some power.
Declan Rice rises to turn it toward the far post and Sam Johnstone is quick to get to his right and take the ball off the bounce.
Eberechi Eze dangerous foul
Unsure how this isn’t at least a yellow card, as Eberechi Eze’s high trap effort sees his studs catch the head of Joao Gomes, who crumples to the turf.
It was an accident but Gomes won the ball, too. Strange.
Gunners probing
Arsenal are controlling the ball and possessing it the Wolves’ half but have so far been turned away from most forays into the box through 13 minutes.
Arsenal lineup
Raya, White, Saliba, Hincapie, Timber, Rice, Zubimendi, Eze, Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres
Wolves lineup
Johnstone, Doherty, Mosquera, Agbadou, T. Gomes, Wolfe, Krejci, Andre, J. Gomes, Hwang, Strand Larsen
Arsenal vs Wolves preview — by Joe Prince-Wright
Mikel Arteta’s side lost 2-1 at Aston Villa last weekend as they lost with the last kick of the game to see their lead atop the table shrink further. They did put in a sensational performance in the Champions League at Club Brugge in midweek, winning 3-0 to stay perfect in that competition and all but seal their process to the last 16 as one of the seeded teams.
Wolves are in a totally different situation as Rob Edwards has lost all four of his games in charge as Wolves remain winless and bottom of the Premier League table. They were hammered 4-1 at home by Manchester United on Monday, and it could’ve been more, as Wolves sit 13 points from safety and have lost eight games in a row. The last thing they wanted was a trip to Arsenal.
Arsenal team news, focus
Defensive injuries remain a problem for Arsenal with Cristhian Mosquera joining Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba on the shelf. Arteta rested plenty of key players for the trip to Club Brugge in midweek and it worked a treat as Noni Madueke scored two (including a stunner), and Gabriel Martinelli also bagged a beauty to build their confidence. Arteta will likely rotate plenty of other players into the lineup this weekend as he continues to manage this hugely talented squad ahead of the weekend.
Wolves team news, focus
Rodrigo Gomes, Marshall Munetsi, Daniel Bentley, and Leon Chiwome remain out with injury, and now Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is set for weeks on the mend. Wolves are trying to persist with five at the back but it is inviting so much pressure and they were cut open so many times with direct balls by Man United on Monday. Edwards knew he had a huge task on his hands but it now seems even bigger, and Wolves are in serious danger of being 20 points from safety before they know it given their run of fixtures coming up over the festive period.
Arsenal vs Wolves prediction
All signs point towards a convincing Arsenal win and they will rotate players in and out of the team and get the job done with minimum fuss. Arsenal 3-0 Wolves.
How to watch Arsenal vs Wolves live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Saturday (December 13)
Venue: Emirates Stadium — North London
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
