Arsenal’s William Saliba and Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes react after Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Tom Edozie scored their second goal. Photo: REUTERS
WOLVERHAMPTON:
Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge suffered a major blow as they squandered a two-goal lead and conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in a damaging 2-2 draw at rock-bottom Wolves on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta’s side were on course to move seven points clear at the top after Bukayo Saka’s early opener and Piero Hincapie’s second-half strike put them in control at Molineux.
But Arsenal collapsed in the closing stages as Hugo Bueno reduced the deficit before Riccardo Calafiori turned Tom Edozie’s shot into his own net in the final seconds after a mix-up between goalkeeper David Raya and centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes, to leave the visitors shell-shocked.
For a second successive league game, the Gunners had failed to hold onto a lead following their 1-1 draw at Brentford last Thursday.
Failing to kill off bottom of the table Wolves was a devastating setback for Arsenal, who have won just two of their last seven league matches, offering renewed hope to second-placed Manchester City in the title race.
City are just five points behind Arsenal and have a game in hand on their rivals, as well as a home game against the Gunners in April.
Having wasted commanding leads in two previous title fights with City, Arteta’s men are in danger of being haunted by the ghost of their past failures.
Arsenal looked increasingly nervous as the minutes ticked down against Wolves in a clear sign the league leaders are feeling the pressure of their bid for a first English title since 2004.
Adding to Arteta’s anxiety, Saka was forced off in the second half with a possible knee injury.
Losing the England star, who this week signed a new contract making him the club’s highest paid player, for a sustained period would be a hammer blow to Arsenal’s title dreams.
Sitting 17 points from safety with only 11 games left, Wolves remain almost certain to be relegated, but they can take heart from a stunning fightback.
Arsenal stunned
Once again playing as Arsenal’s number 10 after shining in that position against Wigan last weekend, Saka took just five minutes to show how comfortable he is away from his usual berth on the right wing.
Declan Rice flighted a pin-point cross towards Saka and he timed his run perfectly to guide a stooping header past Jose Sa from close-range.
It was Saka’s first goal in 15 matches in all competitions dating back to December 3, ending his longest drought as an Arsenal player.
Arsenal’s best period of an inconsistent performance came in the first 20 minutes when Rice fired just wide before Noni Madueke’s drive forced a good save from Sa.
But as freezing sleet and snow gusted across Molineux, Arsenal were almost caught cold when Wolves midfielder Andre fizzed a fierce strike narrowly wide.
Wolves threatened again immediately after half-time as Adam Armstrong went close from distance.
Shaken out of their slumber by those escapes, Arsenal doubled their advantage in the 56th minute.
Gabriel slipped a precise pass through to Hincapie and he fired into the roof of the net.
An offside flag initially disallowed the goal, but Hincapie was able to celebrate after a VAR check showed he was onside.
Just as Arsenal looked set to cruise to victory, Bueno reduced the deficit with a stunning strike — the left-back curling into the top corner from the edge of the area for his first Premier League goal.
Arsenal’s underachieving striker Viktor Gyokeres was hauled off by Arteta after just 11 touches and no shots.
Unable to finish off Wolves, the Gunners were punished in farcical fashion in stoppage-time.
Gabriel got in the way of Raya catching the ball and when it fell to Edozie, the teenager rifled his shot in off Calafiori to leave Arteta in disbelief.
