In a game where they went two goals up and looked well on their way to extending the lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal were thunderstruck by a Wolves comeback that was capped off by Tom Edozie's 94th-minute striker on his debut.
Edozie's strike came off Riccardo Calafiori, who came on after Leandro Trossard appeared to have wasted time when his side were 2-1 up - having gone down twice after a sudden clash with Santiago Bueno - got the last touch off Edozie’s strike to deal a huge blow to their title hopes.
Having walked over Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup with four goals inside 27 minutes on the weekend, the only notable story between then and now was that Saka, who now sits on 77 goals for Arsenal, signed a new, lucrative five-year deal at the club.
The 24-year-old’s new contract pays him in excess of £300,000 per week and it was him who got the ball rolling for Arsenal inside five minutes when he headed from Declan Rice’s sublime cross.
Then, Piero Hincapie helped the Gunners tighten their grip on the game when he scored his first goal for the club, albeit following a VAR review that overturned the on-field decision of offside, before Hugo Bueno found the top corner emphatically for his first Premier League goal as well.
Story of the Match
In the beginning, after their rendition of ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ by Jeff Beck, the Wolves supporters inside the ground shifted to a darker and more direct symphony, with Noni Madueke attracting loud boos after he disrespected the city of Wolverhampton on his Instagram account in 2024.
Every touch was met with jeers, but the sound was washed out by the visiting supporters in the corner of the ground when Saka, having failed to score in his last 15 appearances, broke the deadlock with a header, supplemented by an even better cross from Declan Rice.
In a game of top versus bottom, or for better words relegation-bound against potential champions who continue to provide evidence that this could be their year, a dominant opening wasn’t exactly surprising, but the twists were yet to come.
Hincapie opened his Arsenal goal-scoring account with an impressive finish from close range (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Gabriel Martinelli and Jurrien Timber showed strength down the flanks and both sent opportunistic crosses into the box, yet none could be dealt with. Shortly after those chances, Rice struck from the edge of the area but avoided the right-hand narrowly.
To make matters worse for Wolves, Angel Gomes - who joined on a six-month loan from Marseille last month - was forced off with an injury inside 23 minutes which dealt a blow to the hosts’ midfield on just his third appearance for the club.
Indeed, about the only thing the home fans could take from the first half of action was Andre Gomes’ across-goal strike from 23 yards after 47 minutes, which flew inches wide of the left-hand post as snow started to hammer down on and around the Molineux pitch.
By the time Arsenal’s second went in, a rising finish from Hincapie from inside the penalty area, Wolves seemed down and out until Bueno opened his English top-flight account in remarkable fashion.
Bueno scored emphatically from the edge of the area to make it 2-1 (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Having received the ball from Santiago Bueno, Hugo cut inside onto his left-foot from 22 yards before bending his strike into the far, top corner to pull one back for the home side.
In an attempt to avoid breaking Derby County’s record-lowest points tally in a single season (11), Rob Edwards’ side maintained the discipline to fight for an equaliser but despite constant possession and forward-moving football, the chances never seemed like coming.
That was until Edozie’s late strike bounced off Calafiori and trickled into the back of David Raya’s net to draw scenes of chaos.
Now it’s over to Manchester City, who face Newcastle United on Saturday evening in a bid to close the gap to just two points and really apply the pressure onto Arsenal.