Arsenal 2 Wolves 1: Saka and Odegaard net as Gunners move four points clear at top of the table with narrow win
NO VAR, so good.
League leaders Arenal opened a four-point lead at the top of the table and this time even Gary O’Neil had no excuses.
The Wolves boss has calculated that his team would be seven points better off this season but for a series of shocking decisions from Stockley Park.
But there was nothing technological about this chastening defeat as his team were blown away in double-quick time by the rampant Gunners.
In fact, the only time video assistance was required all afternoon was to wave away two soft penalty appeals - one for each side.
And though title rivals Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Spurs all have a chance to reduce the deficit tomorrow, there is a growing feeling that Mikel Arteta’s men are really going to take some catching.
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The last time O’Neil was at the Emirates as Bournemouth boss nine months ago, his team were a goal up after just 9.11 seconds.
That was the day Reiss Nelson’s 98th-minute winner sparked the wildest celebrations seen in N7 for a very long time.
But this time the boot was very much on the other foot as Arsenal got off to their quickest start of the season to wreck Wolves’ plans to put the shutters up.
It has been a source of constant irritation for Arteta that too many opponents have come to the Emirates with no ambitions of making a game of it.
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It meant that his team had not scored a single Premier League goal in the opening 15 minutes all season as they struggled to pick their way through the masked ranks of defenders choking up the penalty area.
So after watching Lens blown to pieces when they tried to play a high line in the Champions League on Wednesday night, it was no surprise when Wolves arrived with five men strung across the edge of their area and another three screening midfielders.
But even that wasn’t enough to frustrate the League leaders who are suddenly playing with a real swagger after developing a taste for blood in recent days.
They were ahead after just six minutes when Gabriel Jesus’ flick and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s pass presented Bukayo Saka with a potential route to goal.
Craig Dawson did his best to block his path but was completely undone by the England star’s sudden change of direction before stroking his shot beyond Jose Sa for his eighth goal of the season.
It means Arsenal have now scored in their last 32 games against Wolves, a club record run which started more than 44 years ago back in February 1979.
And before the visitors had the chance to regroup, they were undone by another dazzling passage of play which left them down and out with just 13 minutes on the giant Emirates clock.
Saka’s deep cross picked out Oleksandr Zinchenko lurking with intent at the back of the area and after a quick exchange of passes with Jesus the Ukrainian full-back cut the ball back for skipper Martin Odegaard to sweep home.
To make matters worse for the visitors, Sa suffered an injury as he dived in vain and though he lasted long enough to make an important save from Leandro Trossard, it soon became evident that he could not carry on.
That meant an unexpected opportunity for Dan Bentley, who had been released by Arsenal 15 years ago and had probably given up hope of ever playing at the Emirates.
But with the game already lost and Arsenal in full flow, this was a real hospital pass for the back-up keeper.
He had barely had a touch before Gabriel Martinelli’s low shot from the edge of the area struck the base of a post.
And a minute later he was a helpless spectator again as Jesus somehow scooped over from a yard out after Saka’s cross had been nudged on by Gabriel Magalhaes.
He finally got his hands on the ball when he plunged to his left to save from Jesus in first-half stoppage time when both Saka and Declan Rice were screaming out for a pass.
It was Arsenal’s 12th shot of a one-sided first 45 minutes and the travelling Wolves fans were already beginning to fear a repeat of the 5-0 defeat their team had suffered here on the final day of last season.
That victory was a bitter-sweet moment for Arteta and his players, a reminder of what might have been after leading the title race for so long before blowing up in the run-in.
But this one could mean so much more as it cemented their place at the top of the table and increased belief that this really could be their season.
Yet they still managed to make it a nervous finale for Arteta when Zinchenko gave the ball away on the edge of his own area and Mathheus Cunha lashed an 86th-minute shot into the top corner.
Eddie Nketiah had the chance to respond immediately but hit the post after being played in by Odegaard.
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And there was still time for Wolves to claim a stoppage-time penalty when Nelson Semedo’s cross was blocked by Gabriel.
But the ball clearly struck the Arsenal defender on the knee and then his midriff and though VAR John Brooks had a quick check there was never any chance of him giving that one.
