Arsenal punched themselves in the face and then shot themselves in the foot, conceding twice against Wolves to surrender a two-goal lead and hand the title race initiative back to Manchester City.
Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie put the Gunners in a commanding position before the hour mark, despite an insipid performance, but the chickens came home to roost as nerves bred repeated mistakes, and, ultimately, a calamitous stoppage-time mix-up between David Raya and Gabriel Magalhaes that cost two points.
Here’s what the managers, players, pundits and stattos made of the action…
Arteta on the performance…
We’re very disappointed with the end result, but I think we have to fault ourselves. I think the performance in the second half doesn’t show the level and the standards required in the Premier League to win in the manner that we should have won the game, especially in the way that we played in the first half. It’s very tough, we are frustrated because it’s down to us. It’s time to talk on the pitch because anything that we say right now comes from anger, frustration, disappointment, and there’s nothing coming through that is going to benefit and help the team going forward.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Wolves manager Rob Edwards on a show of heart from his side…
It was a great moment and a great night for the football club. It is only a draw but to come back from 2-0 down against one of the best teams in Europe is a pretty special result for us. It was a great performance as well. It shows we are still fighting. I think it is three defeats in 11 matches, so we aren’t doing that bad. We aren’t giving up. We know the position we are in, but we will never give up. We will flight until the end of the 38th game.
Source: Sky Sports
Debutant Tom Edozie on his stoppage-time equaliser…
When you’re playing football as a kid, you dream of moments like this. I’m just thankful for even being put on the pitch for the first time, and it’s a dream come true. Hopefully it will be my goal, but it’s still a dream come true. It means the world to me. I’ve played football my whole life for this moment. I’ve trained hard as a kid, so to score on my Premier League debut is just a feeling that I can’t describe. It’s a dream come true. Getting my debut is one thing and then scoring on my debut is another. Just so thankful, just so happy. I can’t really put it into words what’s happened. I’m just full of different emotions, but I’m just so excited to get a goal and be happy to make my Premier League debut. I have so many different emotions right now.
Source: Wolves.co.uk
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Bukayo Saka on the mood in the Arsenal dressing room..
Yeah, it’s very flat. Very disappointed with the result and especially with the way we played in the second half. Far from the standards we’ve set this season. It’s time for us to reflect on the last few performances and fix the issues immediately, so we can get back to winning games, go on a run and build momentum because we’ve lost that a bit right now. I just think we have to get back to our level. Do the basics right and we’ve got more than enough quality in this team to win games, especially in the games where we’ve been dropping points in recently. We need to fix that and that’s all our focus is right now.
Source: Sky Sports
Wolves other scorer on the night, Hugo Bueno…
It took me longer than [Edozie] to get my first Premier League goal. It is always nice as there is a lot of hard work behind the scenes. It hasn’t been an easy season so to get a little reward today is amazing. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, especially when you go 2-0 down, but we always believed that if we kept going then we could do what we did today. I am so happy for everyone. We deserved it and hopefully we can keep this momentum up.
Source: Sky Sports
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Saka on Sunday’s North London derby…
It was already a big game and now it’s still a big game. We just know these last few games that we have left, we need to win. It’s still in our control so we just need to focus on that, fix the issues we’re having now and get back to winning ways.
Source: Arsenal.com
Source: premierleague.com
Glenn Hoddle on where Arsenal went wrong…
Arsenal lost the points in the first half. After they scored the first goal, that was the moment to take Wolves to the cleaners and win the game then.
Source: premierleague.com
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Paul Merson on Arsenal’s stuttering attempts to win the title…
I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes if they don’t win the league this year because if they don’t, I remember Patrick Vieira saying before the Manchester United game [in January] that it’s now or never. I’m starting to think that. I was very bullish about Arsenal winning the league but that’s half-scared me tonight.
Source: Sky Sports
Alan Smith on what Arteta has to do next…
A big job for Arteta now to try and calm things down. He’s really got to earn his money, I think. What you saw out there at the final whistle, with Jesus on the Wolves’ defender, losing his composure, rattled. Obviously, the whole Arsenal side were frustrated, but they’ve just got to settle down. We’ve spoken so often about them being the best team, the best squad in the league, but, that counts for nothing if you haven’t got that composure and ability to play and get results under pressure.
Source: Sky Sports
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Martin Keown on the title race…
It is a difficult evening. Massively disappointing. It is one of those where if you are going to be a champion, you have to take it. It seemed like too many players were hoping to get it over the line but not enough conviction in the final third. A massive point for Wolves. Arsenal still need to go away to Man City. It is wide open. You are playing the bottom team in the Premier League, you have to win this game and Arsenal have let it slip through their fingers.