Emmanuel Agbadou puts his head in his shirt after Wolves lose 2-1 to Arsenal late in second-half stoppage time at the Emirates Stadium.placeholder image
Emmanuel Agbadou puts his head in his shirt after Wolves lose 2-1 to Arsenal late in second-half stoppage time at the Emirates Stadium. | Getty Images
Wolverhampton Wanderers looked an improved side but suffered a gut-wrenching 2-1 loss away at Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday evening, unfortunate own goals from Sam Johnstone and Yerson Mosquera enough to surrender the visitors to a tenth successive defeat.
The Old Gold thought they were set for their very first point under Rob Edwards when substitute Tolu Arokodare headed in a dramatic 90th-minute equaliser from a Mateus Mane cross to stun the Emirates Stadium, however Mosquera turned Bukayo Saka’s delivery into his own net deep in stoppage time to win it for Arsenal at the death.
It was oh so cruel for Mosquera as he had fought hard throughout to keep Viktor Gyokeres and Mikel Merino at bay. It was brutal for Johnstone to score an own goal, too, as the ball found the net via a nasty ricochet off the goalkeeper’s back – after he tapped Saka’s goal-bound corner onto the crossbar.
Wolves, despite being camped in their own half for the majority of the encounter, would have been decent value for a point as they defended excellently to restrict the usually clinical Gunners to just one shot on target in the first period, and then four more in the second period.
As expected, Wanderers offered very little going forward other than their goal, with their only real first-half chance missed by Hwang Hee-chan. The South Korean intercepted a loose Arsenal pass and dribbled from his own half, sprinting ahead of the recovering Jurrien Timber, but David Raya pulled off a comfortable save.
Edwards’ side, who head back to Wolverhampton licking their wounds, remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League with just two points from 16 matches. There were plenty of positives to take from the trip to the Emirates, though, and confidence will have been built ahead of next weekend’s clash with Brentford at Molineux.
Goalkeeper and defence ratings
Bukayo Saka's dangerous corner bounced off Sam Johnstone's back and in for Arsenal to take the lead against Wolves.placeholder image
Bukayo Saka's dangerous corner bounced off Sam Johnstone's back and in for Arsenal to take the lead against Wolves. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Sam Johnstone: Certainly didn’t deserve to score an own goal as he kept Wolves in the game before it. Johnstone denied Rice a worldie of a free-kick with a fingertip save before diving at full stretch to deny the Arsenal midfielder again a minute later. 7
Matt Doherty (off 69’): Battled hard on his return to the XI but gave away several unnecessary fouls, putting pressure on his teammates. Booked for a swipe on Gyokeres in the second half. 6
Yerson Mosquera: The other own-goal scorer, Mosquera had a decent game before his blunder in the final few minutes. The Colombian headed and cleared so many crosses away, though his passing was mediocre at best. 6
Emmanuel Agbadou: Struggled with his passing out from the back but, just like Mosquera, was strong in the air. Agbadou received a yellow card late on. 7
Toti Gomes (off 86’): Put in a couple of robust challenges that were popular with the away end but was beaten for skill by Saka on several occasions. A mixed game for Toti. 6
David Moller Wolfe: Dealt the tough task of going man-to-man with Saka and struggled, allowing Arsenal’s skipper to cross on many more occasions than Edwards would have hoped. Wolfe won a couple of his duels against Saka but was ultimately unable to stop him. 5
Midfield and attack ratings
Tolu Arokodare's header roared the away end into life as Wolves dramatically equalised just minutes before Yerson Mosquera's decisive own goal.placeholder image
Tolu Arokodare's header roared the away end into life as Wolves dramatically equalised just minutes before Yerson Mosquera's decisive own goal. | Wolves via Getty Images
Ladislav Krejci (off 79’): Krejci’s physical presence in midfield was important in the first half but his involvement dwindled in the second. He was also poor on the ball, completing just six of his 16 pass attempts. 6
Andre: Did an excellent job of breaking up the play in the first half, winning numerous duels to halt Arsenal’s attacking progress. Andre continued his fine work in the second period as Wolves pushed for their equaliser. 8
Joao Gomes: Appeared to be Edwards’ designated midfielder to trigger press when he sensed complacency from Arsenal’s defenders passing out from the back. That worked well as Gomes kickstarted the odd counter with interceptions. 8
Hwang Hee-chan (off 79’): Showed great determination ahead of seeing a shot saved in the first half as he dribbled at full pelt to stay ahead of the Arsenal defenders. Perhaps fortunate not to be sent off for a very late challenge on Lewis-Skelly, slightly above the ankle. 6
Jorgen Strand Larsen (off 69’): Starved of service as Wolves were camped in their own half for much of the encounter. Held up the ball on a few occasions but was otherwise quiet. 6
Tolu Arokodare (on 69’): Netted a brilliant equaliser with a powerful header beyond Raya. Unfortunately for Tolu, it wasn’t enough to secure a point. 8
Jackson Tchatchoua (on 69’): Hardly got involved, making just eight touches in what was nearly half an hour after added time. 5
Jhon Arias (on 80’): Didn’t make as much of an impact as his fellow substitutes. 6
Fer Lopez (on 80’): Looked confident taking on his man in what was another promising cameo from the young Spaniard. 7
Mateus Mane (on 86’): Assisted Tolu’s header with a terrific cross from deep. The teenager looked bright for the final exchanges. 7
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