25 January 2025
Wolves 0 Arsenal 1
Wolves seem to have a real battle on their hands this season to ensure that they are still a Premier League side next campaign. They welcomed Arsenal to Molineux with the visitors trying to keep pace with leaders Liverpool. The Gunners had suffered some key injuries in the forward line but their fans have yet to see the club strengthen in the transfer window.
What made matters even worse for Arteta’s side was that they were also without Odegaard due to illness. That did not give the travelling fans a lot of confidence, their team looks completely different without the Norwegian pulling the strings in the middle of the park. That said, you would expect The Gunners to have enough creativity to see off Vitor Pereira’s side.
Semedo made a lung-bursting run from his own half, deep into Arsenal territory. He put in a sublime cross into the back post to pick out Sarabia, completely unmarked. The attacker met the ball on the volley but sent it fizzing over the crossbar. It was a big chance for the hosts to take the lead, they can ill-afford to spurn such opportunities.
You could see that he had tried to steer his effort into the top corner but in those instances, with all the pace on the ball from the cross, you need to just focus on hitting the target. It was a good effort from Sarabia but had it been more accurate, it would have surely been a goal. It had livened up the home fans however, something they would need if they were going to get a positive result.
The Gunners started getting into their groove a little more. Martinelli came through the middle and fed the ball out wide to Trossard. He clipped in a cross over the defence to perfectly pick out Havertz in the box. It was so well weighted, the German did not even have to jump. Despite this, he still managed to head wide of the target.
Ironically, immediately afterwards he stood with his head held in his hands. Knowing the player, it was no doubt that he could not believe it had not gone in. The reality is he should be embarrassed that he did not score. He spurns so many chances, Arsenal are more desperate for a striker than they are being allowed to play Odegaard and Saka in zorbs to prevent injuries for the remainder of the season.
Just in case you were still on the fence about Havertz’s prowess as a striker, The Gunners came forward again. Trossard was once again the architect as he put a low cross in behind the defence. He found the German perfectly but he drilled his first-time shot at the keeper. You can picture his kitchen covered with half-eaten meals on plates, Kai never finishes anything.
The fact he is Arsenal’s top-scorer this season says more about his teammates than anything. The visitors kept pressing and forced another corner. As Wolves cleared their lines, they broke with the ball and looked to counter. Doherty burst forward but was chopped down by Lewis-Skelly. The defender probably looked at this as ‘taking one for the team’.
However, he did not expect to see the red card that the official then produced. This challenge has since caused more of a hot topic on every medium nationwide than any of the mismanagement of the country by the current government. The rationale for the sending off was that he caught the Wolves player above the ankle.
After the interval, the visitors continued to press. Martinelli played a pass into the path of Rice, who immediately looked to get a shot off at goal. He struck it well enough but it was straight at Jose Sa who was able to block it. It was a good effort by the midfielder from where he was and you were never going to expect a deft finish from a defensive midfielder.
Moments later The Gunners swung another dangerous free-kick into the box. Havertz rose to meet it and headed over the crossbar. Classic Kai. Looking at the replay, he seemed to close his eyes as he made contact. That would offer a suitable explanation for most of his misses, the guy simply closes his eyes and shoots.
Wolves were struggling to carve out many clear-cut chances. As the visitors failed to clear their lines, Cunha picked it up in the middle of the park. As he weaved towards the penalty area, he got a shot off that seemed to be heading into the far corner. Raya covered some ground to scramble across and tip it around the post.
From the resulting corner, the ball dropped to Cunha once again, this time at the back post. He seemed to shank his effort wide of the far post when most home fans would have put their mortgage on him to score from there. Pereira’s side were proving to be wasteful in front of goal, something you cannot afford to be when fighting for survival.
Gomes put in a clumsy challenge which saw him stamp on his opponent’s foot. Having already been booked, the referee had no option but to give him his marching orders. Pereira was losing his mind on the touchline but it is hard to tell whether that was with his player or the decision. Either way, both teams were down to ten men.
The Gunners crossed into the box and it was half-cleared by the hosts. As the ball dropped wide of the far post, Calafiori got a shot away that beat Jose Sa and gave Arsenal the lead. The defender had shown his attackers how to score in fine fashion. Now Mikel Arteta’s side had something to hold onto, this would be a massive three points considering the sending off.
Wolves desperately tried to find an equaliser, a long ball over the Arsenal defence found Ait-Nouri running onto it. He took it on his chest and held off the defender, as looked to clip the ball into the goal, Raya did well to save. It seemed that Pereira’s side were going to be left wondering what could have been, had they been more clinical in this match.
Did you enjoy this article? Please share to your social media. With one click you can help spread the word and make Solid at the Back the one-stop shop for all Premier League fans.