Andrew Bennett reports on Wolves second defeat in the capital this week as Wolves lose 2-1 against Arsenal at The Emirates.
Wolverhampton Wanderers second trip to the capital this week saw us visiting Arsenal and the Emirates Stadium. A bitter afternoon not made much better by a dreadful first half which killed the game in an Arsenal 2-1 Victory.
The Line Ups:
Wolves:
Sa (Bentley, 22) – Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, H.Bueno (Doherty, 63) – Doyle (Kalajdzic, 92), Traore, Bellegarde (Sarabia, 63) – Hwang, Cunha.
Arsenal:
Raya – Tomiyasu (White, 78), Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko – Rice, Trossard, Odegaard (Jorginho, 92) – Saka (Kiwior, 92), Martinelli (Havertz, 77), Jesus (Nketiah, 67).
FIRST HALF
Arsenal came out in the first half with more purpose and with some slick movement found it easy to break through a very static Wolves back line.
It only took 6 minutes for Saka to wiggle past two Wolves players and easily strike the ball home into the bottom corner. Saka and Tomiyasu were causing Wolves problems down our left side and H. Bueno back from injury was struggling with the intense pressure.
Arsenal continued their aggressive play and made Wolves drop very deep into their own box before putting together a wonderful passing move where eventually Trossard found Odegaard free 10 yards from goal to easily strike home.
Immediately after the goal Jose Sa hit the deck injured with a back problem. He persevered for 10 or so minutes and after claiming an Arsenal cross signalled to be substituted and the goalkeeper was replaced with Dan Bentley.
Sloppy and slow Wolves continued to allow Arsenal in with Martinelli testing Bentley down to his right. A few minutes later an unforgiving miss came from Jesus who fired over from a couple of yards out. At this point it seemed Wolves just needed to ride the storm and regroup at half time.
It took Wolves 30 minutes before they seemingly woke up and managed to get forward into the Arsenal box, with forward movement few and far between chances were even more scarce. The best opportunity came when Hwang was put through and was too hesitant into the challenge against David Raya who claimed the ball to end the first half.
SECOND HALF
The second half Wolves showed more composure on the ball, something totally lacking during the first 45. As they did in the first half Arsenal came out of the blocks fast and were testing a more resilient Wolves back line.
Neither side created a lot as the away contingent sang ‘Wolverhampton Wanderers’ on repeat in a silent Emirates. Wolves finally found an opportunity as Hwang got in behind Saliba and cut in down the left for his opportunity to be matched by Raya.
Arsenal were a threat as Wolves pushed forward with Saka pushing forward and causing danger without creating a clear cut opportunity.
Pandemonium in the away end as Cunha finished a very nicely worked move from the edge of the box a curling effort into the far corner. With four minutes on the clock left and stoppage time for the first time in the game the travelling fans had something to be excited about.
The excitement was almost cut short as Nketiah was played through and found himself one on one with Bentley only to hit the post. Where the Wolves defenders were during this moment will forever be a mystery.
Wolves pushed well during the final minutes for the equaliser however a mix of slow passing and good Arsenal shape didn’t mean Wolves could find the second breakthrough. A great example of why staying in the game is crucial as on another day one of the crosses could’ve taken a rouge bounce and we returned to the Midlands with a point.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall not the most positive of displays and we need to stop shifting so many goals game to game to have a better opportunity to pick up three points. Entering a week where we have Burnley off the back of a 5-0 win against Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest coming to Molinuex we will need to put in better performances for longer sustained periods. This should be helped with the return of Lemina and Gomes as Traore and Doyle struggled to gain any form of control this afternoon in the Emirates, Traore probably the better of the two even if only marginally.
ARTICLE BY ANDREW BENNETT
From my first Wolves match against Chelsea in 2003 I fell in love with the team and matchday experience. I work in digital marketing and have lived in Germany and Estonia over the past few years, this doesn’t stop me following Wolves and ensuring all my international friends become invested to the Wolf pack. I enjoy football, board games, a pint and travelling always excited to try new things. You will find me in the north bank on a matchday.
