17 August 2024
Arsenal 2 Wolves 0
Third time is a charm, apparently. As a result, this could be the biggest season of Mikel Arteta’s managerial career. He has taken his Arsenal team to twice challenging Man City for the Premier League title. On both occasions they have fallen at the final hurdle, there can be no excuses if lightning strikes again.
Despite adding Calafiori in the summer for £42m, he had to settle for a place on the bench. So did Gabriel Jesus as Havertz led the line for The Gunners. If anything, you could say this was a settled side of Mikel Arteta’s as it had some sort of regularity to it. The only major question, other than having been victim to a pick pocketing ring, what has changed to this side to make them champions rather than challengers.
Hosting Wolves at The Emirates, they began like you would expect under the Spaniard. High-tempo, looking to get the ball out wide with plenty of movement in the final third. As Rice worked the ball to White on the edge of the box, he only had one thing on his mind. His shot took a slight deflection which made for an easier save for Jose Sa. The fans were loving the positive start.
Saka then cut inside from the wing and played the ball into the feet of Havertz. He tried to control it to turn and shoot himself but his touch was like throwing a brick through your neighbour’s window to see if they are in rather than knocking the door. Fortunately it broke into the path of Saka, who was able to get a shot away, but it was straight at the Wolves’ keeper.
Arsenal continued to create chances but they were lacking composure in front of goal. Saka was the provider once again as he played it into Rice in the box. His first-time shot went well wide of the target although he claimed it came off a defender. The referee and his assistant disagreed. Wolves seemed unable to get out of their own half, let alone retain possession.
Bukayo Saka was proving to be a thorn in the side of the visitors. He checked onto his left foot and bent in an inviting cross which Kai Havertz headed home. The Emirates erupted as The Gunners got their season up and running. Jose Sa had come for the cross which he had no chance of getting, leaving an empty net for the German to head into. Gary O’Neill will be asking questions of his defence for all aspects of the goal.
The visitors came forward for their first attack of the game as Zinchenko had got himself into trouble in his own box. Arsenal had managed to half-clear the ball but Hwang swung a teasing cross into the penalty area and Strand Larsen glanced a header towards goal. Raya reacted well and made a great stop to protect his side’s lead. It would have been much against the run of play had Wolves grabbed an equaliser.
Arteta’s side came forward once again as Rice laid the ball off brilliantly for Martinelli to run onto in the box. The winger dummied a cross on the byline to lose his man, before checking onto his right foot and getting a shot away. Sadly for the home faithful, it took a deflection and went over the bar for an Arsenal corner.
Into the second-half and the inevitable VAR theatrics came into play. Mosquera and Havertz had a coming together before the Wolves’ defender pinned him to the floor by his throat. The referee had taken no action and VAR decided none was needed. So apparently one of the new rules added this season is that you are now allowed to choke out an opponent. Mental.
In the Euros this summer, VAR worked seamlessly. There was very little time added onto games and all the decisions were spot on. That is until any Premier League officials were involved and then it turned into the usual circus we see on a weekly basis. Howard Webb must have read his daily duties in his job specification to be that of Sandra Bullock’s character in the film Bird Box.
The Gunners continued to pile the pressure on Wolves. As Zinchenko looked to cross, it deflected out towards the edge of the box. Partey ran onto it and struck a shot narrowly wide of the keeper’s near post. Moments later Saka teed up Odegaard, whose shot was well saved by Jose Sa at his near post. Arteta’s side were keeping the Wolves’ stopper busy.
Finally they turned their pressure into something as Ait-Nouri backed off Saka. He cut inside onto his left foot and unleashed a shot of pure venom that beat Jose Sa at his near post. The ball was past him before he had time to react. It was no more than Arsenal deserved on the balance of play, they had been dominant. That said, they will have much more testing opponents than this lacklustre Wolves display.
You can only beat the sides put in front of you as they say and The Gunners did just that. Two goals and a clean sheet will please Mikel Arteta and they seemed to be back in the groove from last season. There is a long way to go in this campaign and questions will be asked of Arsenal and their ability to go one step further than previous seasons. You know what to expect from this Gunners’ side, well everyone apart from Wolves it would seem.
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