Arsenal leave it late to tame luckless Wolves in London

Arsenal leave it late to tame luckless Wolves in London

The Gunners patiently worked the ball against a stubborn Wolves defence, with Declan Rice unable to guide a header on target from another Saka delivery as attacks continued to flow down the right.

Despite Arsenal's dominance, Wolves had the first shot on target in the 27th minute when Hwang Hee-chan broke clear, though David Raya saved comfortably. That moment was followed by a blow for Mikel Arteta as Ben White was forced off injured. Arsenal soon resumed the pressure, with Jorgen Strand Larsen blocking Bukayo Saka's effort and Gabriel Martinelli going close twice before half-time, as frustration grew inside the Emirates.

The deadlock finally broke in the 70th minute. Sam Johnstone then produced two fine saves from Declan Rice, but was unfortunate soon after as Saka's corner rebounded off him and into goal.

Arsenal pushed for a second, only for Wolves to snatch a dramatic 90th-minute equaliser through Tolu Arokodare, who fired home an accurate header from Mateus Mane's cross.

However, late heartbreak followed as Yerson Mosquera headed Saka's cross into his own net, condemning Wolves to a 10th straight defeat.

"A big three points, especially the way things turned out at the end," Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told the press after the match.

"In the first half we generated a lot of situations into very dangerous areas without creating big chances from that, so we had to really improve the efficiency in the last delivery, the last pass, because the movement and the options were in the box there time after time, but we didn't take them.  We missed a massive clear chance with Gabi two yards away, which should have been a goal.

"In the second half, we adjusted a few things, we were more efficient, we generated more chances and scored a goal. But then we had a period of two minutes where we had to sit deep because they committed a lot of players, we could not press them in that moment, and our defensive habits were terrible. And when that happens, even though we didn't concede a single shot throughout the game, they just needed that action to score a goal and put the game into a really difficult position.

"So, thank God at the end we reacted, [Bukayo] put a great ball in the box, Gabby touched it, I think it was an own goal, if not Mikel is there as well and Leo is there to put it in the back of the net and thank God we won the game."

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