Wolves 0-2 Arsenal (Odegaard 55′, 75′)
Arsenal will top the Premier League table at Christmas after Martin Odegaard’s double against Wolves moved Mikel Arteta’s rampant side five points clear of Manchester City.
Brentford’s shock 2-1 victory over City at the Etihad presented an opportunity for the Gunners to stretch their lead and it was one that they never looked like passing up against opponents propping up the division.
“We had to dig deep today,” acknowledged the match-winner Odegaard. “The first half was difficult. They defended well with all of the players behind the ball and we were a bit slow on the ball. But we know the quality we have, we know will always create chances and we stayed patient and it paid off.”
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Toney delivers 'perfect response' to Southgate's World Cup snub as Brentford stun Man City12 November, 2022Julen Lopetegui was introduced to the Molineux faithful before kick-off ahead of his first day in the job on Monday and while the former Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla job will be concerned at the club’s current plight, he would have at least been encouraged by the threat his new side posed on the counter.
It was from one such situation that Wolves should have earned a penalty when Goncalo Guedes raced through on goal before being tripped by William Saliba. Surprisingly, neither the on-field referee Stuart Attwell, nor the VAR Mike Dean felt the contact was sufficient to award a spot-kick, much to the obvious frustration of Guedes and those in gold in the stands.
Wolves vs Arsenal player ratings
Wolves (5-3-2): Sa 6, Semedo 5 (Lembikisa 6), Kilman 6, Collins 6, Toti 6 (Nunes 6), Bueno 7, B Traore 6, Neves 6, Moutinho 6 (Podence 6), A Traore 6, Guedes 7
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale 7, White 7, Saliba 7, Gabriel 7, Zinchenko 6 (Cedric N/A), Partey 7, Xhaka 6 (Vieira 7, Elneny N/A), Saka 6 (Nelson N/A), Odegaard 8, Martinelli 7, Jesus 6
Arsenal suffered a blow in the opening minutes when Granit Xhaka crouched down in discomfort with what looked more like an illness than an injury. The Swiss, who has been one of Arsenal’s most influential players this season, carried on initially but was unable to continue and was replaced by Fabio Vieira after 15 minutes.
Xhaka’s absence didn’t seem to unduly impact the visitors, though, who manufactured a few first-half chances, all of which seemed to fall the way of Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian, who has now gone 10 games without a goal, rifled home a volley only for it to be ruled offside, before smashing another effort off the crossbar and shanking another attempt wide at the back post.
Jesus might have cut a frustrated figure in front of goal, but he played a pivotal part in the opener, slipping a pass behind Wolves’ backline for Vieira to scuttle on to with the Portuguese cleverly dinking the ball across the six-yard box to give Odegaard a tap-in. It was the Norwegian’s fifth Premier League goal of the campaign and he just about got to the loose ball first before Bukayo Saka.
ODEGAARD!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 12, 2022
A fifth PL goal this season for Arsenal's captainpic.twitter.com/JL7VkvP4fq
Odegaard only had to wait 20 minutes to register his sixth strike, firing a confident effort into the bottom corner after Jose Sa had deflected a Gabriel Martinelli drive into his path. It was a captain’s performance from the Norwegian who, like so many in Arsenal red, has taken his game to a new level this season.
Wolves made a habit of bloodying the noses of the Premier League’s top sides after their promotion in 2018, but their project has most certainly hit the buffers. They had a few promising moments towards the end, notably when Daniel Podence fired an acrobatic volley wide before forcing a good save from Aaron Ramsdale, but they have plenty of work to do to claw themselves out of danger after the World Cup.
“At the moment we need 10 chances to score one goal and that’s something we need to change,” captain Ruben Neves admitted. “It’s a new season for us after the World Cup. Everyone is excited because he [Lopetegui] is a really good manager. But we need to make sure that everyone is 100 per cent focused because this break is now massive for us at the bottom in the table.
“We’re lucky to have the break to get things together, work on things and then come back better.”
If the tournament has come at an ideal time for Lopetegui, giving him six weeks to become accustomed to his new surroundings and get to know the players not heading to Qatar, it certainly hasn’t for Arteta who must go into every game thinking his team will win at the moment.
“It’s a massive win to give us a huge boost going into the break,” said Ramsdale, who will head out to Qatar with the rest of Gareth Southgate’s England squad soon. “But that doesn’t mean anything. Things will change over the break and we have to come back how we’ve finished it.”
Considering the Gunners have barely put a foot wrong so far, you wouldn’t bet against them picking up from where they’ve left off when play resumes on Boxing Day.
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