Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Rice, Havertz, Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Jesus
Subs: Ramsdale, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Partey, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Martinelli, Nketiah
Arsenal bounced back from their Champions League exit and reclaimed top spot in the league after beating Wolves 2-0 on Saturday, thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard.
Mikel Arteta made three changes to the side lost against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, with Jakub Kiwior, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus coming in for Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jorginho and Gabriel Martinelli.
It was a confident start from Arsenal, who dominated possession early on and registered two shots from Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus although neither troubled goalkeeper Jose Sa.
There was a clearer opening for Declan Rice just before the 20 minute mark, who found himself unmarked on the edge of the box but shot wide after being spotted by Trossard.
Smart play down the right side would then create two quick openings: one for Odegaard although the ball wouldn’t sit down for him before being crowded out, and later Trossard who couldn’t connect with Ben White’s cross (which was slightly behind him).
However, on the half hour mark it was Wolves who came closest to scoring when Joao Gomes took advantage of some poor defending from Jakub Kiwior, advanced into the penalty box and fired towards goal – only for David Raya to palm it onto the crossbar.
It was a smart reaction save from the Spaniard who had little to do until that point.
Moments later, Wolves were lucky not to see their captain sent off after Max Kilman crunched into Havertz, with replays showing he caught the German high – with studs showing – on his planted right leg.
With Havertz receiving treatment, Saliba cleared the ball straight to Wolves defender Hugo Bueno under little pressure, who thankfully shot well wide after the surprising giveaway.
Despite their promising start, the Gunners huffed and puffed their way towards half time, only for Trossard to open the scoring in spectacular fashion after good work from Gabriel Jesus.
Jesus did well to hold off Matt Doherty with his back to goal before wriggling the ball to Trossard, who dug out a shot with little backlift straight into the top corner. 1-0.
To say Arsenal needed that would be an understatement but the timing could not have been better.
Arteta’s men started the second half with intent and were moving the ball around nicely, especially around the penalty area with smart flicks and touches threatening to open Wolves up.
But they still lacked conviction in front of goal, with Havertz firing a half-volley straight at Jose Sa and Odegaard dragging another shot wide from 25 yards. This was the story of Arsenal’s ball striking from distance which had been poor all night.
As legs tired towards the end of the game, Arteta looked to freshen things up with Thomas Partey and Martinelli replacing Jesus and Trossard, although neither were able to affect the game with Wolves starting to push on.
Deep into injury time, brilliant individual play from Saka saw him beat two defenders and blast over having waltzed into the penalty area, before Rice stung the palms of Sa with a curled effort from distance.
The game was finally wrapped up when Odegaard caught Sa at his near post after trying to find Havertz in the middle, but was switched on enough to slot home with everybody expecting another cross into the box. 2-0.
The win also meant for the first time in their league history, Arsenal have kept six consecutive clean sheets away from home.
Not a bad way to turn your fortunes around after back-to-back defeats, with Chelsea coming to Emirates Stadium in three days time.
Get those ice baths going.
Erm it was 2-0
It’s a win but Mikel will cost us the league I fear. 2 substitutions today and a stacked bench. I just don’t understand.
Saka is visibly tired. Plays the full 90 almost every game. We have two enormous London derbys next week. Mikel needs to balance the load of certain players better. Why spend 40m for Viera when he can’t get a minute here and there? We need to work with what we have.
How come Saka is the only one who gets the fatigue excuse? Odegaard, saliba, Gabriel, rice also plays every minute of every game. Saka isn’t as good as many would like to think.
Lord help us
I agree Saka is tired. However it’s crazy the effect that a bit of confidence has on fatigue. We’ve looked leggy in the Bayern match and the first half today. As soon as Trossard (the legend) scored that goal, we were zipping around again and the fatigue seemed to go away. I have a feeling that Mikel is banking on a slice of good fortune to get our mojo back and it happened to an extent today. If we beat Chelsea comfortably I could see all these fatigue issues disappear. It’s funny how much of fitness is in your mind.
What a total crock of ****, have you been listening to the idiot Lee Gunner too much?
So its back to “we know better than Arteta”
When will we armchair experts learn to keep it shut.
In Arteta We Trust
Never leave before the end! It was 2 nil😂
1-0?
David Raya was excellent tonight. He should’ve had nothing to do against that Wolves team, but there we are.
Looking forward to the cope when he gets Golden Glove in his first season despite constant criticism for failing to be Aaron Ramsdale.
Miss the end of the game? 🤣
We scored Two goals! COYG!
At times, the players seemed very tired and in danger. At other times, the decision-making wasn’t top-notch, which allowed Wolves to defend, but they dug in, got the result, and most importantly, controlled their nerves. Top of the league!
That was all that was needed today: the result, performance be damned.
The next two are going to be really brutal as well because of the lack of rest. It’s mad that City don’t play until Thursday, while we are back at it on Tuesday and spuds have had 15 days off!
Just have to find a way to win the next two. The rest days are better going into the last 3 of the season. Crucial days ahead. May the universe smile on us! COYG
Don’t agree.
If we beat Chelsea then we open up a nice big gap between us and City, and that puts them under pressure.
This win will put a spring in our steps: the players can’t wait for Tuesday.
Also playing earlier than them is more important as it’s difficult to control the nerves when the game means you are responding to the win/loss of the rivals who played earlier
Like your bit of perspective. Tuesday is crucial. Hopefully, today’s loss knocks the stuffing off Chelski.
Chelsea actually looked quite good against City and should have won.
Fortunately for City, Jackson couldn’t finish his dinner. He should have had a hat trick.
I hope he plays that badly against us.
Go on the fats!
This team is really good , but there is so much to improve yet and is not only about having another striker. We need an offense that is more fluent in transition, we can dominate most of the game, but we need to learn how to counter and be more explosive. The back four is usually very solid defensively, but we need to be able to play from the back, after getting the ball back there is no one in the defensive line capable of placing very long passes or accelerating transitions like Sergio Ramos used to do for Madrid… Read more »
Are you never satisfied?
Wanting our team to step up and be better has nothing to do with being satisfied! Love to be top of the league and I really hope this confidence boost get us to the end. As everyone here, all I want to see the Arsenal winning the Premier League again.
Phew… very relieved we found a win there, after the tense ‘shit your pants’ stuff the Wolves players put us through, pushing us all the way there in that second half. Wait, that doesn’t sound right… whoops, my apologies, was just going off those dull fucks in the commentary box talking out of their backside for about 15 minutes straight
An average performance, but we got the job done – and 3 points is all that matters at this stage of the season.
Very tepid first half but much better in the second.
The lack of a cutting edge is glaring in this team: Jesus is never a striker. Saka looks very tired and needs a rest.
Now let’s beat Chelsea.
Odegaard MOTM.
That was Arteta ball for me. We dominated! They had one chance all game. Well done to the team especially the defenders.
I could watch Kiwior’s throw ins all day. That’s a good weapon.
So that’s 7 away clean sheets in a row. Nice.
Yet some folk on here are still moaning.
6 actually. The North London derby will make it 7
It wasn’t pretty, it was nervy, but it was a gutsy win against a thuggy team and another clean sheet. Top of the league, love it.
This isn’t meant to be super critical but I finally realized why I find Jesus so hard to watch on attack: I have never seen a player with such great close control and such an awful first touch.
And also looking for fouls more times than passing
Mmmm I wonder how we’ll line up against Chelsea… They’re a shit team, but they have dangerous hyperactive players.
That was a hard fought over victory. The team looked spent in the last half hour but kept going. Well done everyone for grinding it out.
On to the next one.
A vital 3 points. Well earned. But damn! We’re practically running on an empty. I worry about Chelsea on Tuesday. They might exploit this.
Chelsea played well against 115 today but their scoring, or lack of it, was abysmal. That’s not to underestimate them of course. There’s enough quality there to hurt us if we don’t stay on top of them.
It was slow and often static, with only glimpses of whist the team can do. A tired performance, but even then they could barely lay a glove on us. At this stage of the season the win is the only thing that mattered, the clean sheet a pleasant bonus.
On to Chelsea.
A hard fought win and nobody can say that we lack spirit. What we do lack is quality up front , bad decisions and slow in execution.
We should have killed this game early and get some of the boys rested. Now the likes of Rice and Ode needed to run their asses off for 90 minutes plus. Hope Chelsea come with tired legs also in three days time
How did Wolves end the game with 11 players?
We know it’s out of our hands but if we keep doing what is in our hands we have a chance.
I would say the chance of winning it are something like Man City 50%, Arsenal 30% and Liverpool 20%. But Spurs, Chelsea and Man United are at 0%.
And only 5 points away from St. Totteringham’s Day!
Am i the only one that thought we controlled that game really well. 0:2 away after two consecutive loses playing every 72hrs under immense pressure both in the league and CL is a pretty good outcome.
Our defense is tired and for a good reason, which is the fact that it’s the only defense we got fo every game.
This was a draw game any other previous season all factors considered, yet we got a good result and a clean sheet to boot.
Let’s celebrate these players without unnecessary caveats.
Great character. It’s all about the result. To put in that performance after Wednesday evening shows tremendous character. To me Saka and Odegaard are true warriors – they look manacled but will just cross that line and give 100 per cent. They are truly remarkable Worried about Chelsea as they actually have a very talented team. Hopefully they will be psychologically down after losing today but they actually have a large squad with a lot of talent. Personally I hope Jorginho plays besides Rice because I think our midfield is too fragile without him in there. Every match now is… Read more »
Spud from Trainspotting, is that you?
I think Trossad deserves more praise than he is receiving for that creepily fast, instinctive finish. Bloggs almost makes it sound like a fluke. It was NOT. The technique required to strike that ball that quickly, catching everyone off guard, was delightful.