Wolves 0-1 Arsenal
by Layth Yousif
at the Molineux stadium

ARSENAL showed courage and character to emerge with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday evening. 

At a raucous Molineux on a cold February night, Mikel Arteta’s ten-man Gunners sealed what could be a crucial triumph over Wolves.

The match turned out to be a tale of two Gabriels after the visitor’s centre-back grabbed the only goal in the first half – before referee Michael Oliver’s controversial decision after the interval to hand attacker Gabriel Martinelli two yellow cards in the space of seconds, to leave Arsenal battling with 10 men. 

Defender Gabriel forced home after captain Alexandre Lacazette’s hefty but fair challenge on Wolves keeper Jose Sa, to register the only first-half goal Wolves have conceded in the Premier League since October.

However, Martinelli was sent off in the second half for two bookings given only seconds apart when he attempted to prevent a throw-in, before racing to foul Chiquinho.

Speaking after the match, Arteta said: “If you ask me if I’m happy with the decisions we’ve had this season, I’m not at all. But that’s a conversation I will have privately with the officials. We need explanations, we need explanations with what happened in VAR and I need explanations with what happened today.”

The match featured a doughty backs-to-the wall performance from the entire Arsenal side, including keeper Aaron Ramsdale, who foiled Romain Saiss and Leander Dendoncker. 

While substitute Rob Holding, who replaced Bukayo Saka as Arteta attempted to batten down the hatches following Martinelli’s expulsion, cleared off the line from Chiquinho.

Wolves boss Lage said after the game: “I am disappointed because I think we were the better team. First of all, the tempo we put in was very good. I think we managed the game well. We created chances but didn’t score. We suffered one more time from a set piece. When we got to the end, we didn’t score goals.”

The victory was Arsenal's first win in six games, which saw them ease to fifth while preventing Wolves’ hopes of a fourth league win on the bounce.

No wonder Arteta’s side joyously celebrated with their vociferous 3,000 travelling supporters after the final whistle at a noisy Molineux. For while Martinelli’s red card was already Arsenal’s fourth of 2022, with Gabriel’s goal only their second this year – their crucial victory emphatically boosted hopes of Champions League qualification.