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Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence continued Arsenal’s dismal home form when the Wolves left the Emirates with a 2-1 victory, with Raúl Jiménez taken to hospital suffering what appeared to be a serious head injury.
Jiménez was knocked unconscious after a head butt with David Luiz in the opening minutes at the Emirates, leading to a 10-minute stoppage, but the Wolves never looked back from the early loss of their talisman forward to beat Arsenal for the first time. time since 1979.
Poor defense allowed Neto to rebound off a cross from Adama Traore (27), but the Gunners leveled after a rare attack in the first half when Gabriel nodded on Willian’s corner shortly after (30).
Podence’s brilliant individual play restored the away lead before the break (42) and, despite a better second-half performance from Arsenal, they fell for their third consecutive loss at home.
A year after Unai Emery’s dismissal, they now rank 14th, six spots below their position when the former coach was fired and eight spots behind the Wolves who move up to sixth.
Wolves roar despite Jiménez’s blow
A high intensity opening from both sides was stopped short by a sickly head injury suffered by striker Jiménez less than five minutes from time, with a purely accidental collision with David Luiz from a corner that knocked the Lobos out of combat and transferred to the hospital. after a 10 minute break to be placed on a stretcher.
From there, the game understandably took its time building momentum, but once it did, it came back with a bang. First, Tierney gave Traore room to run in the Arsenal defense before selecting Dendoncker, whose bad header off the crossbar was turned into Neto’s rebound.
Gabriel’s draw made him Arsenal’s second top scorer in the league this season, with just his second goal.
In three minutes, Arsenal was level. Willian returned a short corner kick and found Gabriel at the far post and the Brazilian defender made no mistake from six yards, becoming Arsenal’s second leading scorer of the season in the process, a sign of the Gunners’ troubles facing. to the goal.
That punch didn’t shake the Lobos, just as they seemed to have shaken the mental fatigue of losing Jiménez early on. Dendoncker addressed Leno’s hands from a corner of his as they continued to push, before Neto again played a major role in retaking the lead.
The forward was allowed to run towards Luiz before his deflected shot bounced off Leno’s legs towards Podence, who deftly held the ball, mounted a challenge and beat the keeper with a serene shot.
Arsenal’s woes were summed up in the continued ineffectiveness of Aubameyang, who touched the ball only eight times in the first 45 minutes, one of them hitting Patricio directly from an angle from which he was never going to score.
The Gunners went into the second half with more urgency, but they could hardly have had less. Saka seized a presentable opportunity from Tierney’s center five minutes after the restart, but minutes later Traore found himself booked for the simulation after stepping over the leg of Gabriel, who at second glance appeared to have stepped on the winger’s boot. .
Rob Holding, a change at half-time for the clearly affected Luiz, could have leveled off if he had timed his jump better with a cross from Saka, before Aubameyang’s lack of confidence was highlighted perfectly after stealing the ball from Patricio 18 yards. , but giving the archer enough time to get back to his line and save his shot when it finally arrived.
That marked the beginning of the Gunners ‘real improvement, with 20 minutes to go, as the Wolves’ nerves at the prospect of a first victory at Arsenal in more than 40 years became apparent.
Reiss Nelson fired over the volley before Aubameyang headed a handsome cross by Héctor Bellerin from a great position, but the hosts’ efforts weren’t enough. Their dismal home run extended to a third straight loss as they fell further off the beat, sandwiched between Newcastle and Crystal Palace, in 14th place.
Whats Next?
Arsenal host Rapid Vienna in the Europa League on Thursday night; start at 8:00 p.m. They then travel to Tottenham for the North London Derby on Super sunday live Sky Sports Premier League from 4.15pm; Start at 4.30 pm.
The Wolves’ next league game is also next Sunday, with a visit to champion Liverpool; Start at 7:15 p.m.
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