Fragile Arsenal throw it all away to cast first big doubts about title chances

Arsenal had to beware the yellow peril : Picture by @YTJourno

Premier League

Wolverhampton Wanderers (0) 2 Hugo Bueno 61, Edozie 94

Arsenal (1) 2 Saka 5, Hincapie 58

It was a calamity you just knew was coming.

Arsenal, 2-0 up, contrived to surrender two precious points after allowing rock-bottom Wolves to score an injury time equaliser.

They flirted with danger after allowing Wolves back into it soon after doubling their lead and it felt almost inevitable that the hosts would get one more chance.

Arsenal lost their heads at the end with Gabriel Jesus lucky not to be red carded for a frustrated shove on his marker after the full time whistle.

What should have been a night for extending their lead at the top to seven points had become another night of deflation.

They are five points ahead of Man City but it doesn't feel like it. Pep Guardiola's team now have a game in hand.

This second draw in a week is bound to raise doubts now. The vulnerability shown in recent games has started to erode confidence and this was an unconvincing performance.

The frustration will be compounded by the fact they started so brightly.

Bukayo Saka celebrated a week in which he signed a new long-term deal with the Gunners to give them an early goal that should have set them on their way to a win.

But this was another night when Arsenal were far from achieving the routine win they might have hoped for and what ought to have been a straightforward assignment in their title quest proved anything but.

Saka ghosted in to head in Declan Rice's lovely floated ball over the last defender and it was an immediate vindication of Mikel Arteta's decision to deploy him in the number 10 role - following the experiment at the weekend against Wigan when the England winger played for 45 minutes in that position.

We might have expected that goal to be the first of many for the evening but it was not going to be that sort of night.

This was a game with just the one mission objective : Go in, get the points with the minimum of fuss and start preparing for Spurs.

The trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday will have occupied minds of staff, players and fans but it would be no good taking eyes off the ball for a game with the same number of points available as at the weekend.

The Gunners knew all too well that they could ill-afford to take Wolves lightly either, having so very nearly come a cropper against them at the Emirates not so long ago.

Then, they needed two own goals - one of them in the last minute - to get a nervy job done and a freezing night at a sleety, wind-swept Molineux always had the potential to be way more tricky than the league table suggested.

Arsenal were soon threatening more after Saka'sopener. Rice fired just wide. Madueke's bendy effort saw Jose Sa in the Wolves goal drop the ball too close to Gabriel Martinelli for comfort. Madueke headed a good chance just wide.

The need for a second goal was obvious, even if it wasn't until the first half was almost over that Wolves had their first real shot at goal. It all felt like leaving too much to chance.

Early in the second half, Adam Armstrong rifled just over to remind Arsenal the game was far from done.

The Gunners badly needed breathing space and got it after a VAR check annulled a linesman's offside decision. Piero Hincapie was left alone on the left edge of the area and Gabriel picked him out with a well-timed pass. The Ecuadorian strode on and rifled over Sa for what was soon confirmed as his first goal for the club.

But just three minutes later, Hugo Bueno was given time to wrap his foot around the ball for a beautiful curling left-foot strike over David Raya from just outside the area.

The goal had the effect of giving the home side greater belief and their fans also sensed their team could yet pull off a shock. They had nothing to lose.

There was always the chance they might grab a fleeting chance - despite not having much of a sniff all evening. And so it proved.

Teen sub Tom Edozie raced into the area onto a loose ball and drilled low. Riccardo Calafiori who had only just come on, was on the line but could not keep it out - the ball canoning back off the post and over the line.

Wolves: (3-4-2-1) Jose Sa - Mosquera, Santiago Bueno, Krejci - Tchatchoua (Rodrigo Gomes 70), Angel Gomes (Arokodare 22), Andre, Hugo Bueno - Mane, Bellegarde (Edozie 84) - Armstrong

Gunners: (4-2-3-1) Raya - Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie - Zubimendi, Rice - Madueke (Eze 64), Saka (Trossard 73) (Calafiori 93), Martinelli - Gyokeres (Jesus 64)

Attendance: 29,843