Arsenal defeated Wolverhampton (2:1) in the 16th round of the 2025/26 Premier League.

Arsenal’s championship ambitions were seriously questioned after the last three rounds, which included a draw with Chelsea and a loss to Aston Villa. The gap to second place shrank to just two points, and to third place – to three. In this situation, the “Gunners” could no longer afford a slip-up, but they got lucky with their opponent this week.

Mikel Arteta’s charges hosted Wolverhampton. The future Championship representative had earned only two points in the starting 15 rounds – no one in the history of the four English top divisions had started worse. Wolverhampton’s last nine Premier League rounds ended in defeats, and they hadn’t kept a single clean sheet in the championship.

It seemed that the north Londoners would dismantle the collective farm in half an hour, but the match turned out to be much tougher. By the 30th minute, the hosts hadn’t even created any sharp moments, and by halftime, Arsenal had only taken 6 shots. Their expected goals (xG) amounted to a meager 0.47. Wolverhampton could have even scored from a long ball to Hwang and the Korean’s 45-meter dash – however, his slalom ended with a weak shot straight into Raya’s hands.

The “Gunners” created their debut moment in the 33rd minute when Rice delivered a corner to the far post. Martinelli finished from a meter out, but the ball flew parallel to the goal. Four minutes later, the winger completed a classy attack – Saka received a pass from Eze and crossed to the goalkeeper’s line, Dokures couldn’t reach it, and Martinelli fired past the goal from the left edge of the penalty area.

In that episode, there was a ricochet, so Gabriel earned a corner. After the delivery, the ball bounced to the Brazilian, but from 10 meters, he smashed it past the target (though half the team was blocking the target anyway). We can also mention an early cross to Timber at the start of the match, but the header was too inaccurate. That was all the sharpness.

The second half wasn’t much better. Yes, Arsenal already had a dozen shots with 84% possession, allowing nothing to the “Wolves.” But such dominance only translated to 0.41 expected goals. The play was all going through Martinelli, but the finishing was still limping – in the 56th minute, Gabriel bypassed Doherty and burst to the edge of the penalty area, but the subsequent shot went past the far post.

Probably, most Arsenal fans resigned themselves to a goalless draw after the 65th minute, as there were no moments from open play near Wolverhampton’s goal. Hope remained only in set pieces. In particular, in the 68th minute, Rice blasted a free-kick over the top right corner. On the 70th, Arsenal earned a corner, which finally made the Emirates rejoice.

Saka curled it from the flag straight into the far top corner, hitting the post. From there, the ball ricocheted off Johnstone and flew into the net. 1:0! The goal was credited to the goalkeeper.

After that, there were two more goalscoring moments – in the 75th, Dokures fired from the right edge of the penalty area past the bottom left, and in the 83rd, Trossard smashed in the same direction from the left edge! It seemed that Arsenal wouldn’t lose the victory anymore.

And everyone was shocked in the 90th minute when this wretched Wolverhampton staged a comeback. The visitors’ substitutions worked, though credit should also go to the prolonged attack before the goal. In its finale, the fresh Mané delivered a cross to the far post area, and the equally fresh Arokodare outpaced Inkapie and finished – 1:1! Catastrophe.

Arsenal fans were already preparing to write the infamous “God, what a disgrace, just pi…” in chats, but they found a hero – it was Gabriel Jesus, who came on in the 81st minute. In the 3rd minute of added time, he ran into the penalty area and with a beautiful header, hit the far corner (not without a ricochet off Yerson Mosquera). 2:1!

The match ended with this score. Wolverhampton extended their losing streak to ten rounds, while Arsenal maintained their place at the top of the Premier League.