Arsenal survived the controversial sacking of young full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly to secure an important three points at Wolves and remain hot on Liverpool’s heels at the top of the Premier League.
Lewis-Skelly received a red card after 43 minutes for a foul on Matt Doherty. The defender knocked down the former Tottenham player just outside the Wolves area as he attempted to mount a counter-attack. Referee Michael Oliver, with his VAR-backed view, deemed it a serious foul, although it appeared to be a tough call as the visitors were quick to express their displeasure.
Wolves’ Joao Gomes was also sent off with 20 minutes left – and it was a decision that could hardly be complained about – and Arsenal scored shortly afterwards through Riccardio Calafiori, who had come on as a half-time substitute when Mikel Arteta led his team afterward reshuffled Lewis-Skelly’s departure.
It was a deserved win for the Gunners, who showed more attacking intent throughout against a Wolves side that remains mired in relegation problems.
The win puts Arsenal six points behind Liverpool, who beat Ipswich 4-1 at Anfield.
Three points for The Arsenal ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FTLsKJuV4r
– Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 25, 2025
Wolves’ dawdling almost opens the door for Arsenal
Wolves were almost the architects of their own downfall early on, twice causing havoc at the back and almost giving Arsenal a chance.
But Santiago Beuno cleared the first mistake narrowly ahead of Gabriel Martinelli before goalkeeper Jose Sa managed to fight free after a heavy touch almost gave Kai Havertz the simplest of finishes.
At the other end, Rayan Ait-Nouri came close but narrowly missed Pablo Sarabia’s free kick from the left.
Arsenal slowly began to assert their authority, but Havertz missed two excellent chances to open the scoring. The German has been widely criticized in recent weeks for his lack of killer instinct, despite scoring a goal and an assist against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League in midweek.
However, the German striker left his lines mixed up at Molineux. First, he placed a header wide of the goal from Leandro Trossard’s cross after 19 minutes, and five minutes later the former Chelsea striker nodded another Trossard cross straight at Sa, even though he should have done better.
Martinelli’s penalty appeals were rejected by Oliver and VAR after 26 minutes after he felt he was brought down by Emmanuel Agbadou.
Angry Arsenal are stunned by the red card
Arsenal were furious, but that was nothing compared to the outburst of anger that accompanied Lewis-Skelly’s dismissal two minutes before half-time.
Referee Oliver did not endear himself to Arsenal staff or fans and caused even more gnashing of teeth within three minutes of the restart when Gomes, already booked for throwing the ball away, did so again but escaped further sanction.
However, the 10 men were dominant. Gabriel failed to find a teammate as he headed the ball across goal, Jurrien Timber saw a penalty rejected and Sa had to get there well to parry Declan Rice’s effort.
At the other end, David Raya made a great save to deny substitute Hwang Hee-Chan before Havertz put another header wide.
It was an end-to-end game and the much-admired Matheus Cunha could have scored two goals within a minute. His first attempt was deflected, giving Raya a fine save and from the resulting corner the Brazilian fired wide.
Gomes sees red and Arsenal capitalizes on it
The game changed in the 70th minute when the numbers were even. Gomes clearly hadn’t learned from his earlier free-kick and crashed into Timber with a terrible challenge and saw the inevitable second yellow and subsequent red.
Arsenal took full advantage and Calafiori opened the scoring after Nelson Semedo botched Martinelli’s cross.
Wolves’ best chance of an equalizer fell to Ait-Nouri, but Raya ran off his line to block his attempt as Arsenal held on.
