It couldn’t possibly be happening again — could it? Surely, Arsenal aren’t letting the Premier League title slip through their fingers for the third straight season after throwing away a two-goal lead against last-place Wolves on Wednesday.
WOLVES 2-2 ARSENAL — Video highlights & recap
Surely not, only Mikel Arteta’s side now leads Manchester City by just five points, having played one more game than Pep Guardiola’s men. That’s 11 points dropped in their last seven games as we approach the business end of a season which, at one point, saw them nine points clear of the field.
1 - Wolves are the first team in Premier League history to start the day bottom of the table and avoid defeat to the side starting the day top despite trailing by 2+ goals. Hunted. pic.twitter.com/bwiYoKD0DH
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 18, 2026
Mikel Arteta reaction — What did Arsenal boss say after dropping more points vs last-place Wolves?
“Really tough to accept it, but the second half we didn’t perform at the level in any aspect of the game — the standards that are required to win a game in the Premier League — and we paid the price.”
On the test facing the club now: “You have to stand up. When you have a moment of difficulty like we feel really frustrated with ourselves, you have the perfect game — against Spurs away [on Sunday] to go and show how much we want it, and how good we are. That’s it. That’s what we have to do: talk on the pitch.”
On what went wrong: “There were too many things that went wrong, it was one after the other basically. We never got any dominance or control of the game. We scored the second goal, and still. It’s better not to judge it [right now], we are all too emotional about it and it’s not the moment to do it. It’s a moment where you do not perform and you are at this level, the expectations are where they are. If not, you have to take the hit, because we deserve it.”
On his message to the players after another slip-up: “It is very easy now, in the emotions, to start to say things that can damage the team. That’s the ultimate and the worst decision that you can make, because everybody wants to do their best, nobody questions that. Today we were not at the level and the standards that are required. When you do that, and you want to be at this level, you have to take the hit.”
“The enjoyment comes from moments of suffering. If you believe in the Premier League you don’t have to go through tough periods, that’s not the reality. The enjoyment comes from those moments when you are not your best — OK, get through and find a way to do that.”
On whether there’s an issue with effort: “No, not that. No, not that. I never seen that in this team. There are many other aspects that you have to do very basic things, the simple things, much better than we have done if you want to really dominate the game.”
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka, on the result
“Disappointed. Not much else to say. There was a big difference in how we played in the first half and the second half. We dropped our standards and we got punished for it.”
On whether nerves are creeping in on the team: “Time to focus on ourselves, improve our standards and improve our performances — and it is in our control.”
