Wolves v Arsenal
Arsenal suffer title blow with late Wolves equaliser
Arsenal blew a two-goal lead at last-place Wolves on Wednesday to give a huge boost to Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.
Debutant Tom Edozie scored a dramatic last-gasp equaliser as Wolves snatched a 2-2 draw to plunge Arsenal's Premier League title hopes into further doubt.
The draw means Arsenal has dropped points in back-to-back games and leaves them just five points ahead of second-place City, having played a game more.
Bukayo Saka celebrated his new five-year deal with the club in style with his fifth goal of the season as Mikel Arteta's choice to play him in the number-10 role immediately paid dividends as he gave Arsenal an early lead.
It looked like three points were heading back to north London when Piero Hincapié doubled the league leaders' advantage with his first goal for the club, but Huge Bueno produced a moment of magic to reduce the deficit.
Wolves though had the final say as Edozie's effort from the edge of the box deflected off Calafiori beyond David Raya and Arsenal missed the chance to extend their advantage to seven points.
The league leaders barely had to lift a finger before they went ahead, a period of sustained pressure ended with Declan Rice putting a ball onto the head of Saka who nodded between the legs of José Sá from six yards.
Arsenal were rampant in the early stages, Sa produced a double save as he batted Noni Madueke's initial effort into the path of Gabriel Martinelli who was unable to poke past the Portuguese goalkeeper.
Madueke could have had his second headed goal in the space of a week but was unable to guide Martinelli's cross on target.
Wolves were happy to let Arsenal have the ball for much of the half and it took until first half stoppage time for them to register their first shot as André dragged a speculative effort wide across goal.
The hosts visibly grew in confidence at the start of the second period, Adam Armstrong almost opened his Wolves account in style with a 20-yard strike which marginally flew over the crossbar.
Arsenal weathered a small Wolves storm and doubled their advantage with their first attack of the half, Gabriel slipped through to Hincapie, who made no mistake.
The Ecuadorian went off to celebrate in the corner before the linesman lifted a late offside flag but VAR showed Hincapie was onside and the goal stood.
Wolves cut the deficit in half five minutes later when Bueno lined one up outside the box and curled a stunner past Raya's despairing dive to give the basement side hope.
Wolves pressed for an equaliser and got their rewards in stoppage time which lifted the roof off Molineux courtesy of 84th-minute substitute Edozie.
A cross put into the box was flapped at by Raya and allowed Edozie to blast an effort on goal which bounced off Calafiori and into the back of the net.
Information from PA and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Paul Tierney
English Premier League Standings
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 27 | 17 | 7 | 3 | +32 | 58 |
| Manchester City | 26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | +30 | 53 |
| Aston Villa | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | +10 | 50 |
| Manchester United | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | +10 | 45 |
| Chelsea | 26 | 12 | 8 | 6 | +17 | 44 |
| Liverpool | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | +6 | 42 |
| Brentford | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | +5 | 40 |
| Everton | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | -1 | 37 |
| AFC Bournemouth | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | -2 | 37 |
| Newcastle United | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 36 |
| Sunderland | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | -3 | 36 |
| Fulham | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | -5 | 34 |
| Crystal Palace | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | -4 | 32 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 26 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 31 |
| Leeds United | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | -9 | 30 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | -1 | 29 |
| Nottingham Forest | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | -13 | 27 |
| West Ham United | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | -17 | 24 |
| Burnley | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | -23 | 18 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 27 | 1 | 7 | 19 | -32 | 10 |

