Mikel Arteta said that his side’s late goal will give his side ‘belief’ in their race to get into the Champions League places come the end of the season hailing Arsenal’s performance as ‘magnificent’ in their dramatic victory over Wolves last night.
The Gunners completed an emphatic turnaround thanks to goals from Nicolas Pepe and an injury time own goal from the visitor’s goalkeeper Jose Sa, moving up to fifth in the Premier League and just a point behind Manchester United with a game in hand.
Wolves started the game brightly with Romain Saiss opening up the scoring just seven minutes in following a corner, however VAR disallowed the goal for offside.
However, Wanderers did get a deserved opener just a few minutes later from a terrible back pass by Gabriel that didn’t have enough on it to get back to Aaron Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal, South Korean international Hwang Hee-chan was too quick for the shot stopper, rounding him before squeezing the ball into the open net from a narrow angle.
The home side started to get a foothold into the game following a shaky opening quarter of an hour in London; heroic defending from the Wolves backline saw Martin Odegaard, Alexandre Lacazette and Kieran Tierney all denied by superb last-ditch tackles.
Lacazette, in particular was wasteful for most of the night, missing a couple of big opportunities in the first half.
Arsenal’s pressure continued in the second half with Sa being called upon to punch away Bukayo Saka and Lacazette’s best efforts.
In the last 20 minutes of the game Mikel Arteta made what turned out to be a couple of crucial substitutions, Pepe and Eddie Nketiah have largely been outcasts from the Spaniard’s squad this season but played a vital part in their team’s fightback.
Just minutes after being brought on, the two attackers combined to draw level in the 81st minute.
Nketiah found himself with space on the right-hand side of the box, pulled it back to Pepe, who turned over Saiss with ease firing the ball past a hapless Sa.
The home side sniffed the opportunity of a huge three points, as they began to pile massive pressure on the Wolves backline.
Bruno Lage’s side were penned into their own box, the Arsenal crowed sensed blood as they upped the decibel level in the closing moments.
As the game entered the final seconds, Lacazette who had wasted countless opportunities, linked up well with Pepe before seeing his effort deflected into the back of the visitor’s net by Sa, sparking bedlam in the stands in what may well turn out to be a crucial result for Arsenal’s season.
