February 25, (THEWILL) – Arsenal came from behind to beat Wolves, due to a thrilling 95th-minute winner from Alexandre Lacazette, putting them just one point behind Manchester United in the Premier League table and with two games in hand.
The Gunners trailed for most of the game at the Emirates Stadium as Wolves took an early lead, thanks to a goal from Hwang Hee-chan. Late on, substitute Nicolas Pepe levelled, before Lacazette completed the comeback deep into stoppage time.
Initially, Romain Saiss glanced the ball into the net from a corner as Wolves asserted their might right from the start. On that occasion, however, VAR came to Arsenal’s rescue, ruling it offside, but there was nothing VAR could do when Hwang grabbed onto Gabriel’s naive back pass.
Raul Jimenez seized a wonderful opportunity and very nearly extended the advantage moments later. Arsenal were on the ropes at that point, with just 12 minutes gone, but they were able to acquire a foothold and began to pose questions to a tenacious Wolves defence.
Martin Odegaard tried to get the hosts going by taking charge of the linkup play, but despite peppering the Wolves goal, a mix of bad finishing and/or timely blocks only resulted in one attempt on target by half-time. Jose Sa shutting down Gabriel Martinelli as the Brazilian attempted to heave it up and over was the closest the hosts came to finding a goal.
Only a brilliant save from Aaron Ramsdale prevented Hwang from scoring again soon after the restart. Arsenal, on the other hand, continued to struggle to make headway as Lacazette struck high and wide in the penalty area on the turn.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes, Lacazette managed to get one on target, but Sa was up to the task. Arsenal’s chances of getting something looked to be fading at that point, and it appeared Wolves were going to keep their enviable record of winning in every EPL game after scoring first since November 2018.
But, that was until Odegaard’s defence-splitting pass found Eddie Nkektiah, who in turn found Pepe. The Ivorian’s turn and finish had a clinical element to it that fans have not seen enough of of the Gunners’ frontline.
Both sides had more chances as the clock ticked towards the final whistle, but it was Lacazette’s goal with barely seconds left that stole the show. Because Sa deflected the ball into his own net, the goal may not be attributed to the Frenchman, but neither he nor the supporters will care.
The Gunners will enjoy a 10-day break from Premier League action after breaking Wolves’ long-running Premier League record, and will return on March 6 for an away trip to Watford. Wolves’ next match is against West Ham United on Sunday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
