Arsenal opened up a four point gap at the top of the table with a 2-1 win over Wolves. First half goals from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard put the Gunners in charge, and the visitors showed very little attacking threat.
However, a mistake from Oleksandr Zinchenko saw Matteus Cunha get one back, to make the final stages more nerve-wracking than they needed to be.
Here’s how the players rated this afternoon.
Read the Arsenal 2-1 Wolves match report and see the goals here
Arsenal 2-1 Wolves – Player Ratings
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Wasn’t impressed with Trossad today.
Lots of great tight control today in the midfield – it might have been his best performance as a number 8 for us, in terms of a disciplined type of number 8. He just had the missed chance, and the one moment where he should have passed and even got a telling off from the manager, but that was about it.
If anything gab jesus’s 1st touch was worse.
He was great in the first half…totally faded in the second.
Nketiah is not reliable in front of goal, which isn’t particularly good when all other aspects of being an Arsenal forward are beyond him too.
That #14 shirt needs to be taken off him. We need investment up front, it’s long overdue.
He hit the post. That’s inches. Jesus missed two absolute sitters and nobody bats an eyelid. Trossard, Martinelli and Saka missed great chances too. Why does Eddie get so much stick?
Because all in all he offers less than the guys you mentioned in a regular basis.
To be fair on one of them the defender was pulling him back by the arm on that header and he had just a split second to react on the cross from Saka that Gabriel almost had and probably couldn’t see it until it passed him. For all the stick he gets about not being a finisher he does so many other things that help us score and relieve pressure like his holdup play on the ball that Saka played to him on the edge of the box leading to the first goal.
You asked so I’ll answer: Jesus’ chances were not sitters – Eddie’s was…. absolutely gilt-edged. Jesus works his bollocks and constantly holds up play, harries defenders, creates for others, tracks back to defend… Eddie, contrast, jogs around making half-hearted motions towards defenders but does nothing for our press. It’s no coincidence that Wolves played out freely once he came on – Jesus rushes around doing the work of two pressers! The rest of our forward/mids had to take a backward step as Wolves could just play it through Eddie’s channel and they risked being bypassed, out of position – resulting… Read more »
I would also rather have Giroud than Nketiah.
We coulda had him back from Chelsk for ONE million… missed a big trick there, I feel.
Because he’s not good enough.
Gabriel Jesus makes everyone around him better. It’s as simple as that.
Nketiah is useless when he doesn’t score.
Nketiah doesn’t have the skill set that Jesus has. His strength is his speed. But that too is hampered by his inability to control the ball in the final third like Jesus did when he scored against Lens.
He gets stick because the rest of his game is underwhelming. Unlike the other forwards.
Broad strokes is Eddie plays for Eddie, Jesus plays for the team.
Eddie’s great when scoring, but offers little else.
Jesus makes this Arsenal’s attack purrrrrr.
I have to say Eddie is my least liked player in a long time. Looks like he’s always late to press and late with the challenge. Way too often, ball is gone – he clatters into someone. And I get that striker has to be selfish to an extent but he is just on another level. If there is a glimpse of hope for him to shoot he will shoot, nevermind the teammate on a tap in.
Just not the right mindset and I can’t see it changing.
Wow. This Eddie bashing is so intense.He came on for like 10 mins and hit the post. none of you lot would have got anywhere near to making that shot. Don’t care what you armchairs say. He’s a class number 2nd striker who will get bags of goals this season.
Unfortunately, you are very wrong. And my opinion is definitely not based on those 10mins.
I can vouch for that as I’m not a professional football player getting paid a 6 figure weekly wage to convert chances created by my teammates for my employer.
i think best position for Zinky is as DM or number 8, while with current condition our best defender will be, White, Saliba, Gabriel, and Tomiyasu
I feel Zinny’s teammates should have called for a clearance. Not enough communication on their goal, don’t should have just cleared too, but his teammates need to tell him when a threat comes from the blind side. Other than that he had another strong game
he always has a strong when he do the attacking part… that is his quality….
*Zinny should have cleared it too*
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted for that, what’s so controversial about it? Seems like a great point. Team defending is about communication, whether verbal or not, a defender can’t always see everything around him as he’s chasing a ball
Elite players are keenly aware of what is happening in there immediate surroundings
Rubbish – he was only in that pressure position in the box because he’d earlier done his usual and let the attacker skin him. It just happens too often, and at key moments.
We have an 80% amazing defensive line… except for him. We do NOT need another play-making mid, we need a brick-wall left-back.
As long as the opposition don’t ever attack we’ll be fine with Zinchenko as left back
DM?? Come on. He is really, really bad at defending.
I repeat – with Ode, Jorgi, Rice, Partey, Vieira, etc – we do not need another play-making midfielder. But we most certainly do need a rock-solid LB… it’s the one chink in an amazing defensive line.
Guess you would’ve rather kept Tierney and sold Zinchenko because for you defenders should defend and attackers should attack. Oh and we need a big tall striker who we can punt the ball to, enough of that trying to walk the ball into the net, just give it a go from 30 yards or kick it long and see what happens. All that “tactical innovation” nonsense, bloody foreign influence on our beautiful game…
geez you’re condescending as fk dude…our top scorer in the PL so far is Saka with 5 goals…! Which is 14th overall, so yeah you could argue we need a fkn goal scorer in the team that would improve our current ability to put the ball in the net.
Mate – I don’t know you, nor anything about you, so won’t presume to put words in your mouth or thoughts in your head. Other than this, perhaps: differ in opinion from me (or anyone else on here) by all means… but resorting to personal insults and petty sarcasm is never a good look. Ever. And here’s the thing – how many goals has Zinch already cost us? Yes, he has created a couple, however we have more than sufficient playmakers in the squad… we also have arguably the best defensive rear-guard that the Arse has had in 2 decades…… Read more »
Wasn’t meant as personal insults mate just some banter and a way to humourously contest your criticism of Zinchenko, but it may have crossed the line a bit you’re right and for that I apologise. It’s not that I don’t agree with you that these errors need to be improved upon, it’s just that I think we’re past the era that defensive solidity is the only thing we need in that position, so focusing just on that ignores a big part of the equation. Do I wish we could find the perfect player who could do both? Sure I do… Read more »
Been saying it since pre-season…we are weak as fck at LB…
Arteta should hire u bro. U got all the answers
If his best position is DM, its not with us
Defensive midfielders need to be able to actually defend.
Timber is our starting left back. Having Zinchenko as a backup is a testament to how good we’ve become.
You realize timber is a right footed center half who often played right back for Ajax…?
You mean the guy whose played 126 minutes for us to date?
This match was a letdown after the drubbing of Lens. The team was disengaged in the second half. And why is Zinchenko still favored even though he is weak defensively?
Because we don’t have his backup healthy
I’d rather see Tomi or Kiwior there – and why the hell did we let Tierney go?
Because Tierney is a permanently injured one trick pony?
Bashing Tierney now mate, seriously?! What a fucking joke you are
The one trick being good at defending and crossing?
Probably because we can’t keep him fit for an extended period of time. He’s only played 5 times for his loan club Real Sociedad as he had a hamstring injury which kept him out for 5 games. It’s a real shame as for me, he’s still the best defensive left wing back we have at Arsenal
Boo-hoo, why cant we win 6-0 every game, its just not fair! (wail’s subside into distance)
Was your username arrived at by yourself or chosen for you by an unsolicited online petition?
Well, it just seemed an appropriate name to use while engaging with people like your good self.
Nice win. A little nervy but it’s a game after a CL match.
We move on! Top of the league no matter what happens in the rest of matches.
Only saw the goals so I’ll focus on the two goalscorers – great to see Martin slowly getting back to his best, not just scoring but 6 key passes, we look a completely different team when he’s in rhythm. As for Saka… has to be top 3 winger in the world surely by now? How many games has he played this season without scoring or assisting, 2? 3?
It’s like commenting on someone’s face, but only seeing their nose.
I agree, not something I normally do. But thought I could make an exception given I wasn’t really commenting on the game itself, more on the stats and end product. Hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me just this once.
Also I’d honestly feel more comfortable commenting on an isolated nose poking through a hole than on somebody’s whole face right as they’re staring at me. There’s only so much you can offend someone by commenting on their nose…
Only 3 games in the Prem. He is outstandingly consistent. Luton will be his 200th game in all comps for Arsenal and he has 97 goal involvements. Yes, he is top 3 in the world.
Cracking start. Saka is absolutely world class. Lucky to have him! Martinelli too. Arguably the best two wingers in the EPL.
Thought the ref was a fucking disgrace again. Every game we get called for the slightest touch and wolves get away with whatever they want the other way. I mean how is that not a penalty on review!? HOW!? HE IS LITERALLY HOLDING JESUS’S WRIST FFS!!!
This league is a fucking disgrace.
If that wasn’t a penalty, why was Trossard’s goal against Leicester disallowed for Ben White holding the goalkeeper’s hand?
(Personally I think neither is a foul, but fair is fair.)
I mean both are fouls… Come on. You can’t grab a players arm while they’re try to play at a cross. Have some one hold your arm while you try and jump and then jump again without them holding it and tell me which one 10/10 times gets you higher?
I don’t think most VAR’s would have the nerve to overrule the referee to call a penalty on Wolves this week. I think they plan on turning the apologies from Howard Webb into a six-part podcast. Or maybe two seasons on Netflix.
Well that just sums up how broken the league. “Let’s give these guys a break cause we’ve stitched then up hard… And well it’s Arsenal, we’re still under directive the fuck them over every week!!”
Paranoid and misinformed bollocks
And that sums up the state of refereeing. The people in charge of the rules have other things they see as more important than upholding those rules. (Like helping clubs who have been badly treated or not embarrassing their mates to name just 2).
Didn’t think it was even close to a pen
Its not the one incident in isolation, but the lack of consistency, where the same action in 2 different games, has opposite outcomes. Like a goal being disallowed in one game, and a penalty not given in another for the exact same offence.
These types of decisions are subjective which will always lead to variable outcomes
*biased outcomes
Glad we got the win.
Zinchenko has been really sloppy and casual defensively this season. Gaffer needs to sub him after 60 or play him in a No 10 late on with Kiwior or Tomi at LB. That was an unnecessary late nerves for what should have been a stroll.
Others were sloppy after going 2 nil up, Saka poor touch, Gabi Saliba mix up, lost momentum Rice’s touch to Zinchenko as much to blame for goal – team game vs and team errors
Nketiah gets on my nerves with his half assed jogs & half hearted tackles. As a sub he really should be more sharp.
Same. He was fucking garbage when he came on, exactly the same as versus Burnley. Looks like he doesn’t give a shit.
what a beautiful comment to read. at last, gone are the days of withstanding a player’s indifference or sluggishness. arteta’s cultural revolution is a fact. please no more ozils allowed at this club ever again. give 100% or go somewhere else.
I agree with you, but I loved watching Ozil play for us. Poetry in motion. I hope that we can remember him for what he did great and not for the latter years.
My biggest regret with Ozil is that because of him me didn’t buy Fabregas back from Barcelona and he ended up playing for the Russians instead.
Like many of is, I was delighted when the club finally got rid of Ozil but that said, for all his laziness and lack of urgency, he’s one of the very few world class players we’ve had at the club since Arteta took charge.
On the positive side, my captain is back, he creates, he scores, I just love having Gabriel Jesus on the pitch, I don’t care what he does, I’m glad he plays for us. Saka is a special character of a player. I love this team
But oh, what to do about Eddie?
Sell
If it’s correct that he’s on £100k per week he’ll be going nowhere till his contract has run down.
Eddie is a good player, especially when he starts. In my opinion he’s good enough to be a starter for an average premier league team. Not Europa league team but just below.
I don’t see why we shouldn’t have lots of buyers for him.
He’s a Championship player at best
He is back up to Jesus, did very well last season when Jesus was out for 4 months, funny our season went left when the main guy came back
Don’t forget the calibre of main guys we have had…Wrighty, Henry, the turned traitor RVP…this team is screaming for that level of quality upfront and some fans think it’s because of Nketiah? The backup? That’s my point gents
Long stretches of complete dominance interspersed with truly exquisite passages, then ten minutes of tension at the end. But we keep winning. COYG!
The Bonus Rating nails it. I also do not approve. But we got the 3 points and that matters most.
Let’s go back to our policy of pulling Zinchenko off after 60/70 minutes
I think we would’ve if Tomiyasu didn’t need to be subbed.
Yeah, but we have Kiwior, and many of us think he’s a very capable footballer
Good point.
He also doesn’t get caught on the ball a few times every game, cos he has no idea there’s an opposition player right next to him.
That scoreline looks different to what my stream showed blogs 😉👍
We should have been out of sight on another day, but no hard feelings. All the players bar Trossard started on Wednesday night, less than 72 hours ago. Maybe Arteta should have refreshed the team a tad earlier. Three points in the bag; over to Luton on Tuesday. Another 3 points and a few goals would help.
Zinchenko had a slightly typical performance – his defensive lapses could have cost us more today
Guys it happens…. it’s football
Zinny cleared a goal off the line last week that would have seen us drop points or even lose that one… Let’s enjoy the win
Arteta will deal with that
Yes it happens and it can happen to anyone. The point is consistency, and for all his creative and atacking qualities Zinny brings to the team, defending is his weak spot and that kind of defensive sloppines is something that he displays regularelly (more than any other in our defensive line. Before the goal he was already saved by Martinelli once and even his clearance from the line cam after he cheaply gave away the ball to Brentford 5 seconds earlier. If MA was ruthless with Ramsdale I think he should pay attention and at least pull Zinchenko of the… Read more »
Spot on.
Double true, I’d sell Zinchenko end of the season. He’s a good player but he is limited in his abilities in the position he is asked to play. I don’t think his plusses outweigh the minuses. If this logic is applied to ramsdale then why not any other player?
He’s an elite level midfielder who Arteta stubbornly deploys as a defender. He certainly has a future at Arsenal but just NOT as a backline defender
Guys we have the best defense in the premier league right now. Saliba, Gabriel, White, Tomiyasu, Rice, Partey… Those players are so great, we can afford to have one had defender, especially considering what he brings on the offensive side of the ball.
Yeah he cleared a goal off the line, but do you remember who lost the ball that led to them having that chance? Yep, you guessed it, Zinny.
It’s not a one off.
I like perspective matey a spot on comment & all this after a solid win What’s the problem ?
You coast at 3-0 not at 2-0.
This gave Westham 2-2 last season vibes. Totally unacceptable
Don’t even have to look that far back … Fulham this season is a great example.
FULHAM was:
Arsenal 0:1 Fulham,
Then, Arsenal 1:1 Fulham.,
Then Arsenal 2: 1 Fulham,
Finally at 88th minute,
Arsenal 2: 2 Fulham .
It wasn’t Arsenal 2: 0 Fulham originally before they equalized
The similarity is when they scored a late 2nd goal and we dropped 2 big points
At 2-0 I did feel there was always a possibility of the game turning on a knife’s edge, but I don’t think our performance during the 2nd half was “bad” per se; it’s not like there was a growing wolves momentum prior to the goal that we were struggling to deal with. Had it not been for an individual mistake, I think we would’ve generally been content with the level of control and professionalism of seeing out the game. I do agree with you though that 3-0 is the much better threshold to take the foot off the gas, since… Read more »
Zinchenko’s performance today was like having a pint of ice cream – delicious to start but likely to give you the shits by the end of it.
He does it all too regularly against this type of opposition, when he’s good he’s very good , when he’s casual he may as well be wearing a pair of jeans and cons cause he so lax a daisy , thought he’d got the kick up the hole he needed when Tommy did so well at LB, but he doesn’t have the capacity to full concentrate in these game , which is a shame as these are games where his attacking skillet is required .
Just confirms can’t start him against Liverpool
‘A pint of ice cream’? 🤔🤔🤔
Might need to get that lactose intolerance looked at… or get some dairy free ice cream! It’s pretty great these days.
But yes Zinny’s definitely the dairy type… with extra lactose added
Rarely a team goes down 2-0 at half time and the scoreline clearly flattered them. Love Jesus but his problems in finishing off are holding us back.Around 15 goals a season is not what we need for our central striker. Eddie should of buried his chance and trying better to make this his position. I think we definitely need to invest in someone that can score 20-25 goals per season. We need new striker and in January if we can win the title.
People really reacting negative to this. If the cheating fucking PGMOL called a clear penalty it’s 3-0 and have over. Of course they didn’t, but we won anyway. Top of the pops lads, considering the shafting we’re getting on a weekly basis, it’s kinda astounding! COYG!
Not over reacting just stating fact that Jesus although one of my favourite players and full of quality. Not prolific enough to bury these types of games. We need a striker 20-25 goals a season. But I do love Jesus.
Yeah but Jesus was absolutely crucial in both goals we scored….
You really don’t get it we need a striker 20-25 goals a season. With Jesus we will unfortunately fail. I love him but we need a goal scorer. I less we agree to be mediocre
Man City and Liverpool both won the league without a good goal scoring striker. . What did they have in common ? Great wingers, great passing striker. That’s exactly what we have.
Jesus is not our problem, Nketiah is. We need a second player to compete with Jesus.
Uhm Haaland and Salah ring any bells?! Lol…
Gabriel Jesus has never been, is not and never will be a centre forward so why are we all judging him as one?
The Arsenal, I see has goals all over the lineup. Its a more unpredictable model of play, one I think better to have. One prolific striker would require a reset of how Arsenal play.
I don’t really get that Jesus maes the whole team better? Neither goal we scored yesterday would’ve been scored with a differen striker
On the Raya/Ramsdale debate this season, I’ve stayed out of it so far but a thought did strike me whilst watching the Wolves game – why doesn’t Arteta play them at the same time? I realise we lose an outfield player but surely two keepers would make it so much harder for opponents to score?! Can’t believe no teams play two keepers at the same time – surely it makes sense!!
Have you considered a career as an elite football manager? These are some revolutionary ideas
Rumor has it Arteta tried it but had to hurriedly bin the idea when the FA insisted on an additional pair of goal posts on the Arsenal end. Mean fuckers!
Two goalies? Nah but we could use two left backs
Based on the second half this is the kind of game we’d have drawn or even lost a couple of seasons ago so credit to our defensive unit.
A nervy final 10 minutes all of our own making yes, but we never looked like losing at any point. After the first 20 minutes most people started to envisage another France v Gibraltar mismatch.
Rice is quietly becoming immense for us. He’s not the flashiest, but rarely makes an error and is always there when needed.
He has something of Paddy V about him when he suddenly spots a chink and just marauds forwards 20-30m.
Love it!
10/10 bonus rating in my book for a flurry of one-touch passes in the first half
Look, mistakes happen all the time in football. You can’t win every match 5-0. It was a game we controlled and won. And don’t forget, players are asked to play a complex game these days.
Well in Lad!
None of the other players make as many errors in defensive positive positions as Zinchenko. It wasn’t as if its a one off, there were two separate errors by him in the first half that could have cost us. Only the other day he had to clear off the line having given the ball away in a dangerous position v Brentford. Beautiful attacking skills, but sorry he’s a defensive liability.
Seriously? Dude posted a great game, just watch him in Marty’s goal. His defense isn’t perfect, but he’s some player. If you can’t see what he adds to this team then I’m not sure you get what we’re trying to do…
And despite this liability, we have the best defense in the league. He’s great for us, he being a lot offensively, and we manage to cover his defensive weaknesses.
Timber is gonna be our first choice LB next year.
It’s amazing how absence makes a player’s cachet rise exponentially to what they have actually contributed to the season. Timber looks an excellent prospect but he’s played about 126 minutes in 23/24
The team(s) who finish above us in the league will make fewer mistakes
Fully agree with the bonus rating. Nevertheless,3 points in the bag
On their goal my 2nd reaction is that Zinchenko is not expecting the ball to bounce to him and away from Rice there and it caught him by surprise. I wonder if Rice could have cleared it 1st time but credit again to him for being in the right place.
Still Zin needs to just boot it there.
Yeah he needs to boot it, but it’s also his team mates job to tell him a defender is coming from behind. If you have played the game you know this…”MAN ON!”
Fair comment but elite players should be aware of what’s happening in their immediate surroundings
Yeah, because their teammates help by communicating. That situation was a host of mistakes, zinny was a part of that, but not all on him. Apart from that he had a really strong game. Without him we’re not 2-0 up.
Two things not possible to happen in football. Spurs winning the leauge and Rice having a bad game.
His first couple games I knew he was being conservative but I was still a little underwhelmed. How wrong I was. The sheer volume of his work, he almost single handedly allows us to pin teams back. How many time does he dispossess opponents from BEHIND, and not commit a foul, it feels like 15 times a game. You could blindfold him and he’d still complete nearly all of his passes. His control is superb and he never ever loses the ball. And he has a wicked shot, he’ll be scoring a few goals in due course.
What the heck it’s happening with Zinny? Sometimes I have the impression, regarding defensive aspects of the game, he’s too sloppy at possession and/or taking the game lightly.
He’s an attacking midfielder who was converted into a fullback, albeit a while ago. He’s always going to have a mistake in him, just a question of whether the rest of his game makes up for it.
Hwang has to get high marks for his excellent diving today. Only managed one card in five or six attempts!
Saliba’s booking for holding him around the neck was entirely justified
Game of two Arsenals – and, I would argue two players… Man, we were imperious in that first 30-40. Then, understandably, took our foot of the gas a little and cruised comfortably. Until two key player moments: Eddie came on and did his usual half-hearted jogging around – making NOT A SINGLE TACKLE – and our press collapsed allowing Wolves into our half and back into the game when… Player no 2 – Ziiiinch – did what he too often does on defence, got repeatedly exposed by players running at him and putting him under pressure. This clearly flustered him… Read more »
The first 20 minutes was football from the heavens. Breathtaking, spine chilling stuff. When we are in full flow it brings tears to my eyes. Shame we couldn’t put them to the sword but I’ll gladly take that very special 20 min and onto Luton. Holdinho beware.
Have to agree with this. Probably the most incisive and intense attacking first 20 minutes I’ve seen from any club this season. Not even City, Real, Bayern or Barca could have lived with that. Wolves didn’t do a whole lot wrong during the carpet bombing but were always looking like potential cannon fodder. All credit to them for remaining calm and positive and slowly getting a foothold back in the game late on. It might seem churlish to sound a note of caution here but as much as I’m bored saying it and most of you are bored listening to… Read more »
Disagree with FMT Trousard rarely lost a ball and the chances he had were more difficult than they looked.
I don’t think we lose much whether it’s Tommy or Ben at right back. I’d switch Tommy over to the left in tough away games. Plan B would see Kiwor play at left back. Zinchenko is too vulnerable to calamitous defensive errors.