Wolves 0 Arsenal 1 - Report

The London club dominated the first half but were not clinical enough with their chances before Myles Lewis-Skelly was given a straight red card to hand Wolves the man advantage.

But they did not take it in the second half, before Joao Gomes picked up a second yellow card to even the numbers.

Wolves’ worst fears were then realised moments later when Riccardo Calafiori struck to give the Gunners a late lead.

The hosts could not respond, despite making attacking changes, and slumped to another defeat.

Analysis

Vitor Pereira named an unchanged side following the defeat to Chelsea.

The only change to the squad came on the bench, as Toti Gomes returned from a hamstring injury and Carlos Forbs dropped out of the squad altogether.

Mikel Arteta was given a boost in defence by the return of William Saliba, but suffered a blow as Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard both missed out.

Merino had a knock, while Odegaard fell ill on the morning of the game and withdrew from the squad.

The Gunners almost had an early chance when Santi Bueno let the ball bounce in the box and Emmanuel Agbadou had to react quickly to clear it before it landed to a red shirt.

Jose Sa nearly handed the visitors the lead with a poor touch that Kai Havertz chased down, but the goalkeeper slid in to clear his lines.

And it was then Wolves who came closest to scoring when Nelson Semedo superbly carried the ball the length of the field and picked out Pablo Sarabia with his cross, but the Spaniard’s first-time volley crashed over the bar.

Arsenal, as expected, were offering plenty of threat from set pieces and crosses and on one occasion Havertz beat Bueno in the air to head narrowly wide.

Sa was then called into action when Leandro Trossard crossed and found Havertz free in the box, but the goalkeeper stuck a leg out to deny his header.

Wolves suffered a blow when Jorgen Strand Larsen came off injured after just 32 minutes and was replaced by Hwang Hee-chan.

In the 42nd minute Wolves cleared a corner and as Matt Doherty attempted to break forward, Lewis-Skelly tripped him and referee Michael Oliver did not hesitate in handing him a straight red card.

Despite intense protests from the visitors, the decision stood and Arsenal were reduced to 10 men.

After seven minutes of added time, both sides entered half-time drawing 0-0.

As the second half got under way, Arsenal replaced young attacker Ethan Nwaneri with defender Calafiori.

Despite the player advantage, Wolves did not get into their stride in the opening stages of the second half, as the hosts dominated possession and pushed for an opening goal.

Declan Rice stung the palms of Sa with a shot inside the box, as Wolves struggled to hold onto the ball.

Hwang did test David Raya with a shot from distance before Sarabia scuffed one wide, as Wolves looked to turn up the tempo.

Havertz should have scored when he met a free-kick from close range but headed just over the bar, before Wolves gained some momentum and had chances of their own.

Matheus Cunha dug the ball out from underneath his feet and got a shot away that had Raya scrambling, but the goalkeeper just got to the ball to turn it around the corner.

From that resulting set piece, it came all the way through to Cunha at the far post, but he fired just wide.

But just as Wolves were getting into their groove, J.Gomes was handed his marching orders. After being booked for kicking the ball away in the first half, he got a second yellow for catching Jurrien Timber late.

The visitors pressed for an opener and found it just four minutes after J.Gomes was sent off. A cross was headed away at the back post by Semedo but only as far as Calafiori, who attacked the loose ball unmarked on the half-volley and found the bottom corner.

Wolves’ response to going 1-0 down was lethargic to say the least, but Rayan Ait-Nouri almost burst it into life when he had a glorious chance that he directed straight at Raya.

With five minutes of added time on the clock the home fans were willing Wolves forward, but their lack of confidence showed as they played far too negatively in possession.

Eventually they were condemned to defeat, piling more pressure on the team in their relegation fight.

Key Moments

RED CARD 42 Lewis-Skelly is sent off for a trip

RED CARD 70 J.Gomes is handed a second yellow card for a late foul

GOAL 74 Calafiori fires Arsenal into the lead

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Doherty (Guedes, 87), Bueno, Agbadou, Ait-Nouri (R.Gomes, 87), Andre (Doyle, 87), J.Gomes, Sarabia (Bellegarde, 75), Cunha, Larsen (Hwang, 32).

Subs not used: Johnstone, Dawson, Toti, Lima.

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Nwaneri (Calafiori, 45), Martinelli (Tierney, 87), Havertz, Trossard.

Subs not used: Neto, Porter, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji.