This is the one where Arsenal threw themselves to the Wolves. Not just with the result but in the Premier League title race.
Suddenly it is in Manchester City’s hands and in a season when Arsenal appeared to have the strongest team and the strongest squad, they are looking like they do not possess the strongest will. They are no longer baring their teeth.
Being 2-0 up and in control against evidently the weakest side in the league and not winning feels unforgivable. Arsenal have bridled against the accusation that they have “bottled it” in the past, but if it happens this time round there is, unfortunately, no excuse. There was a big difference in how we played in the first half and the second half. We dropped our standards and we got punished for it,” Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka told the BBC.
The draw means Arsenal has dropped points in back-to-back games and leaves it just five ahead of second-place City, having played a game more.
With the top two still to play each other at City’s Etihad Stadium, the title race is too close to call.
“(It’s) time to focus on ourselves, improve our standards and improve our performances and it is in our control,” Saka said.
Arsenal has led the way for the majority of the season and one bookmaker paid out on Mikel Arteta’s team winning the title after it opened up a nine-point lead earlier this month.
But Wednesday’s result was the latest sign that it is feeling the pressure, having finished runner up in each of the last three seasons. It has won just two of its last seven league games.
Having blown a lead against Brentford last week, it was even worse at a Wolves team that has won just one game all season.
Victory looked all but secured after Saka gave Arsenal the lead with a header in the fifth minute and Piero Hincapie ran through to blast in the second in the 56th.
But Wolves’ fightback began with Hugo Bueno’s curling shot into the top corner in the 61st.
Edozie’s effort earned the home team only its 10th point of a campaign that looks certain to end in relegation. While it did little for Wolves’ chances of survival, it may have had a major impact at the top of the standings.
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