Wolves come from behind to defeat 9-man Arsenal in pulsating encounter

Wolves come from behind to defeat 9-man Arsenal in pulsating encounter

Babajide Orevba, Akan Anwankwo
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:47 PM

- Arsenal saw two red cards as Wolves came from behind to stun them at the Molineaux

- The Gunners took the lead in the first half after a Nicolas Pepe strike

- Wolves equalized through a penalty after David Luiz fouled Willian Jose in the box

- Bernd Leno was also sent off late in the second half after handling the ball outside the area

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Arsenal’s six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end in dramatic fashion as Wolverhampton completed the double over them for the first time in 40 years.

Wolves come from behind to maul 9-man Arsenal 2-1
David Luiz was red carded for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Photo by Matthew Ashto
Source: Getty Images

In an extremely tense encounter, the Gunners finished the game with nine men after David Luiz and Bernd Leno were sent off in either side of the halves.

A win for the Gunners would have taken them up to sixth on the log and Mikel Arteta’s boys were fully aware of this fact as they created some early chances in the opening exchanges.

Wolves, on the other hand, went into the game at the back of a dismal run of form which saw them winless in their last eight league games.

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Bukayo Saka found the back of the net with a thumping finish eight minutes in but the goal was chopped off after Alexandre Lacazette was adjudged to have been offside after review.

Nicolas Pepe then hit the woodwork minutes later after he brilliantly cut back into the middle to hit a first-time shot.

Arsenal’s persistence eventually paid off courtesy of Pepe, who bundled past Nelson Semedo to curl the ball past the keeper with his weaker right foot.

Things took a turn for the worse for the visitors as defender David Luiz was sent off for a third time in an Arsenal shirt after taking down Willian Jose when he looked to be one on one with the keeper.

Luiz will feel hard-done-by the referee, mainly because his challenge was more clumsy than deliberate but Ruben Neves made no mistake from the penalty spot as he rifled the ball to the roof of the net to level matters just before half time.

Wolves were a reborn side in the second half as they looked to take advantage of Arsenal’s red card and they did just that thanks to Joao Moutinho’s screamer.

The Portuguese playmaker struck an unbelievable ball from long range to beat the Arsenal keeper who didn’t know much about the strike.

Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal as a bizarre incident in the 72nd minute saw goalkeeper Leno attempt to charge down a ball off his line, only to handle it outside the box.

The ref had no choice but to dismiss the German and condemn the Gunners to possibly finish the game with nine men.

Against nine men, Wolves were extremely comfortable and could afford to run down the clock with a string of passes.

The only positive Arsenal will take from the game will be return of Aubameyang, who missed his side’s three games as he attended to his ailing mum.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has written off Arsenal's chances of finishing in the top four despite the side's recent resurgence.

The Gunners have enjoyed a steady revival in recent days with encouraging results in the Premier League.

The north Londoners are unbeaten in five of their last league fixtures, picking an impressive nine points in the process.

Authors
Babajide Orevba photo
Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
Akan Anwankwo photo
Akan Anwankwo
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