Arsenal consolidated top spot in the Premier League, but needed a huge slice of luck in the shape of two own goals to secure a nervy 2-1 win at home against the rock-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead with 20 minutes to go when a Bukayo Saka corner bounced off the underside of the crossbar and off the back of unfortunate Wolves keeper Sam Johnstone into the net.
The hosts were not at their ruthless best and thought they had blown their chance when the Wolves equalized through Tolu Arokodare with normal time almost up, the substitute scoring with an excellent glancing header.
Photo: EPA
Yet Arsenal’s blushes were spared when Yerson Mosquera headed the ball into his own net under pressure from Gabriel Jesus in the 94th minute to rescue victory for the league leaders.
“We are relieved because we managed to score at the end, and go and win it, but we need to improve,” Arsenal manager Arteta told reporters, pointing also to some “horrible” defending in the lead-up to the Wolves goal.
It was a quick reboot for the North London side after seeing an 18-game unbeaten run broken last weekend at Aston Villa and leaves them on 36 points, five ahead of Manchester City and six ahead of Villa before their matches yesterday after press time.
Meanwhile, the Wolves remain winless after 16 Premier League games this season and their two-point haul is a joint-record low after 16 games in top-flight history, level with Sheffield United in 2020/21.
It was the Wolves who had the best chance of the first half when Hwang Hee-chan sprinted into an empty Arsenal half left unmanned except for goalkeeper David Raya, who saved the forward’s effort.
After that the chances began to flow for the hosts.
Gabriel Martinelli could, and probably should, have scored when he headed a deep Declan Rice corner back across the goal rather than in, and then volleyed a Wolves clearance from another corner narrowly wide shortly after.
The second half was more one-way traffic. Rice had a free kick tipped over the bar and then saw another edge-of-the-box effort brilliantly saved low down by Johnstone, while substitute Leandro Trossard also went close with a couple of flashed shots.
Arsenal also suffered their latest defensive injury blow, as Ben White had to be replaced after half an hour, taking the shine off Saturday’s return of center-back William Saliba.
Arteta told reporters afterward that the injury looked to be a hamstring issue and meant the side’s cycle of defensive woes continues.
“We don’t know the extent of it [White’s injury], but probably tomorrow or the day after we will know more,” he said.
Wolves manager Rob Edwards said his side were flat in the dressing room due to the dramatic manner of the defeat, but praised their performance.
The lead-up to Arokodare’s goal had seen the Wolves apply a relentless few minutes of pressure on Arsenal, who just could not get the ball away.
“We saw a team that were focused, they followed the game plan and they stuck together, showed a spirit, took the moment when it came and almost delivered sort of a perfect game,” Edwards told reporters.
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