Three days after promising his future to Arsenal by signing a new contract, 18-year-old Bukayo Saka further illuminated the club’s perspective by scoring his first goal in the Premier League. That, and a gritty collective performance capped by Alexandre Lacazette’s late goal, earned the victory for a team that is beginning to advance under Mikel Arteta.
A late race for Champions League qualification remains unlikely but not as far fetched as it seemed two weeks ago. Arsenal’s fourth consecutive victory had the added benefit of curbing the Lobos’ burden for the top four.
For his 150th game in charge of Wolves, Nuno Espírito Santo hoped to continue disrupting the established order of English football. When the Portuguese were named in May 2017, the hierarchy was already changing, because that was also the month that Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 21 years, and they have not returned since then, but not many people would have tipped the wolves to join Europe’s elite before they did. Nuno’s power was unknown back then, now it’s obvious.
But here his team was unusually neglected. And Arteta suggested that he also has the ability to lift. Much more to do, of course, but at least Arsenal have reason to be optimistic again.
There are outbreaks of regeneration. They were sharp when it mattered most, but the main features of their display were rigor and purpose. Perhaps Mesut Özil and Mattéo Guendouzi meditated on those qualities after being omitted from the team again here.
Arteta displayed a back three in an attempt to contain Raúl Jiménez and Adama Traoré, who started together up front.
It took 15 seconds for that fearsome duo to scare Arsenal. Shkodran Mustafi miscalculated a long pass from Romain Saïss, allowing Jiménez to control it to his chest and pass a pass for Traoré to chase after him. Emiliano Martínez ran out to block Traoré’s shot from the edge of the area.
Mustafi made peace in the 10th minute with a subtle intervention that prevented Jiménez from finding a Traoré cross. That was surprising on Arteta’s side: his intelligence out of possession. Throughout the field they pressed hard in a coordinated manner. Rigor and purpose. With the ball, although far from being ingenious, at least they passed clearly and moved continuously. Wolves did the same. This intense contest was well balanced.
Traoré seemed the player most likely to attack, but he shot over the bar from 20 yards after passing over Dani Ceballos.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did not sniff the goal until Wolves was unable to clear a corner in the 26th minute. The striker did not catch the bouncing ball cleanly, offering Rui Patrício a routine save.
Traoré wreaked havoc on the other end again, but Leander Dendoncker nodded at the back post.
Then Arsenal showed their teeth. Eddie Nketiah took advantage of a deflected pass from Granit Xhaka and fired a first shot at the post from 20 yards.
Just before the break, the other young attacker from the visitors fired them in front. After a mistake by Willy Boly, Matt Doherty inadvertently deflected a pass from Kieran Tierney to Saka, who elegantly hooked the ball that bounced past Patrício from 12 yards.
That was the first goal the Lobos have conceded since the league restart, but, having reversed the halftime deficits several times earlier in the season, they did not panic. Six minutes after the break, Traoré downed the right and zeroed in on Jiménez, who sent a sunk header through pressure from Cédric Soares. Just after the hour, Diogo Jota had a chance to equalize but delayed his shot long enough for David Luiz to block it.
A minute later, Jota approached Traoré for Wolves’ best shot. When Martinez ran to meet him, the forward pushed the ball onto the bar from 18 yards.
Lacazette settled matters moments after her introduction, hitting Conor Coady at a Joe Willock crossroads and shooting at the net from close range.
Arsenal could polish its four credentials by beating Leicester on Tuesday. “We have no margin for error,” said Arteta. “At this level of intensity, if we play like that against any team, we will make it difficult for them. The reason we are alive and can win at any time is because we are enjoying suffering together. If you do that, you will get your rewards. ”
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