Arsenal go five points clear after win over Wolves

Arsenal go into the World Cup break with a five point cushion over nearest challengers Man City after defeating Wolves on Saturday night. After a first half devoid of clear goalscoring opportunities, the Gunners upped their game in the second period and got the victory. Odegaard put Arsenal ahead in the 54th minute and the Norwegian struck again 15 minutes from time to seal the win. Wolves had some chances through Goncalo Guedes and Daniel Podence, but never looked like scoring otherwise.

Mikel Arteta named the same side which beat Chelsea last Sunday, but things started badly as Granit Xhaka went down in the second minute after feeling unwell. He only lasted 15 minutes before having to be replaced. In that time, Gabriel Jesus did have the ball in the net, but the offside flag was up. 

Arsenal continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession and territory, but were unable to penetrate a well ordered Wolves defence. The home side played on the counter and had two clear chances through Guedes. The first came after 20 minutes following a Martinelli mistake which ended with Guedes hitting wide while the second was just before half-time when Saliba's attempted pass back to the goalkeeper only found Guedes and the former Valencia man once again failed to hit the target.

As for Arsenal, Jesus was their only real threat in the rest of the first 45. As well as the disallowed goal, he headed a Zinchenko cross wide of the target and then came within inches of scoring in the 35th minute when he struck the crossbar. 0-0 was a very fair score at the interval and Arsenal needed to change things. 

 

November 12, 2022

And change things they did as they took the lead in the 54th minute when Jesus played a lovely through ball for Fabio Vieira and he squared for Odegaard to tap in from close range. Once the Gunners got the breakthrough, they looked very comfortable and even though Wolves tried their best to get back into the game, the hosts did not really threaten Ramsdale.

With 15 minutes remaining, the game was over when Wolves lost the ball and Martinelli saw his shot saved by Jose Sa's foot before Odegaard fired in the rebound. The away section at Molineux was in full voice after that and despite late opportunities for Daniel Podence, Arsenal easily saw out the remaining minutes.

Arsenal now go into the six week break top of the league and host West Ham on Boxing Day while Julen Lopetegui, who was in the stands for this clash, will face Gillingham in the last 16 of the Carabao in his first game in charge and then travel to fellow strugglers Everton in the league on Boxing Day.