The face on Rob Edwards said it all as he applauded the Wolves supporters at the Emirates. The Premier League’s bottom side were seconds away from just a third point of the season, away at the leaders, only to be denied as a second own goal of the match consigned themselves to a ninth straight defeat.
There was pride, at how Wolves had scrapped and fought and ultimately hauled themselves level with Tolu Arokodare’s stoppage-time header. But there was pain, so much pain, at the sight of Yerson Mosquera glancing Bukayo Saka’s cross into his own net and the Wolves players collapsing to the turf as if the strings had been cut from them.
The late drama changed everything for Arsenal in a heartbeat. They were heading to a valuable three points at the end of a frustrating performance, fortuitously secured by Sam Johnstone’s own goal as Saka’s inswinging corner crashed off the post and deflected in off his back. Most people leaving the Emirates would have shrugged their shoulders, muttered something about a seventh game in 21 days, and moved on. Instead, blowing it, then winning it moments later gives Arsenal an immense boost heading into a free week and next Saturday’s trip to Everton.
“Today it went our way, so we’ll take the points and move forwards,” Saka said. “It was frustrating at times, I’ll be honest, but we got our reward. We’ve got a break now until next week and we’ll enjoy it.”
He had been the danger, the one player Wolves could not switch off from even as Arsenal stuttered and struggled for fluency. And when Arsenal needed it, Saka supplied the quality, owed to the consistency of his delivery from both the set-piece and open play. Even as Arteta rattled through the substitutes in search of improvements, there was no question that Saka would remain.
Before tonight, Arsenal had won 10 of the 11 games played at the Emirates this season. Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur were among those swept aside. Not, though, Wolves. Only Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City had been as effective in frustrating and slowing down Arsenal in the manner that the side rock-bottom in the Premier League, with two points all season, managed here.
There was palpable frustration from Arteta, disappointment from his players as well. Martin Zubimendi, so integral to setting the tempo Arteta demands, covered his face immediately after he was hooked as part of a triple Arsenal change on the hour. Until then, Arsenal had lacked their usual zip and fluency. Arsenal didn’t have a shot on target until the 66th minute and the passes required to break Wolves down were hurried and inaccurate. Zubimendi couldn’t hide it.
The breakthrough came from the set-piece but the relief Arteta felt was almost spurned by what followed. Arteta was angered, in particular, by the two or three minutes before Wolves equalised, as Arsenal dropped deeper in response to the visitors starting to open up. The Premier League’s bottom side had offered no threat but Arteta was furious at how passive his players became when they had to defend the edge of their own box. “We made it harder for ourselves with how we conceded the goal and that was unacceptable,” Arteta said. “Horrible defensive habits. It was nowhere near the level required.”
And if this was a glimpse at how Arsenal will respond to the pressure of the title race, having conceded a late goal in the defeat at Aston Villa last weekend, then Arteta did not like it. “That is the big lesson we have to learn,” he concluded. But what happened there, as Arsenal retreated against a team whose confidence should have been on the floor?
Arteta felt Arsenal stopped trying to play. “The first time that they have the opportunity to do it, they scored the goal, and this is the problem,” he bemoaned. “We are relieved because we managed to score a goal at the end and go and win it, but we need to improve in that sense.”
Of course, the manner of it was cruel on Wolves, crushing for Mosquera. Gabriel Jesus looked to be on the end of Saka’s cross and Mosquera was caught as he headed into his own net.
“In the end luck decided the game and it was bad luck,” Edwards reflected. “The lads gave everything, and I am proud of a lot of it, but it hurts. It was bad luck, but they earn it. If someone said to me that at the beginning, we’re gonna score three tonight, I’d say I’d take that. It was bizarre circumstances.”
