Arsenal took all three points against Wolves, but Mikel Arteta was left unimpressed by the manner in which his side allowed the visitors a late foothold in the game.
Insipid before the break and only marginally better after it, the Gunners relied on two own goals – both stemming from Bukayo Saka crosses – to see off a side cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
Sam Johnstone was unfortunate when Saka’s 70th-minute corner deflected off the post and his back, a goal befitting of the contest up to that point. Instead of settling Arsenal nerves, the home side retreated in the closing stages and appeared set to be punished when Tolu Arokodare headed past Raya in the final minute.
Instead, Arteta’s side somehow found a response. Saka again delivered dangerously from the right, and under pressure from substitute Gabriel Jesus, Yerson Mosquera turned the ball into his own net. The relief around the ground was palpable, but it couldn’t mask a performance that fell well short of the required standard.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough match, especially if we didn’t manage to score early in the game,” Arteta told TNT Sports.
“We had a lot of situations in the first half, one big chance for Martinelli, only two yards out, totally free, and we don’t score. We struggled once we arrived in those danger zones to pick a red shirt in the box. We had many situations, and then we don’t generate that many clear chances.
“In the second half, we did that a bit better, scored the goal. But then we had a period of three minutes in deep – so passive, really poor defensive habits, not acceptable for our level, because we hadn’t conceded a single shot until that point. The first time they do it, they score a goal. And that’s the Premier League.
“We need to be very, very much aware of that, and improve that because, at the end, you rely on an individual action, a very chaotic action to score the goal and win the game. The margins should have been bigger.”
On whether he was surprised his side struggled to create more, the manager added: “We created a lot of situations without picking the right player in the final pass. The amount of situations we had an overload in the box, and we hit the first man – it’s not the standards that we need to generate more.
“I wasn’t surprised, I watched them [Wolves] against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, what they did against [Aston] Villa, and how unlucky they were not to get a result there. I was expecting that if we didn’t manage to score early, that we were going to have to suffer.”
Arsenal have certainly had their fair share of late drama this season. In recent weeks, points have been dropped at Sunderland and Aston Villa in stoppage time, while the win over Newcastle in September involved a 96th-minute winner. He was certainly thankful this one went his side’s way, given it reestablishes a five-point lead over Manchester City before Pep Guardiola’s side plays tomorrow.
On the win delivering a timely boost, Arteta said: “Yeah, and that gives you belief that regardless of how the game goes, you can always find a solution to win it.
“Now we’re going to have a ‘clean’ week. We need to start to train certain aspects slowly, because you don’t train them, you start to deteriorate a little bit. Then we go again, because in the Christmas period, we know what happens.”