Alexandre Lacazette struck in the dying seconds as Arsenal secured a dramatic 2-1 home victory against Wolves. In frustratingly typical fashion, Mikel Arteta’s side created their own problems in the first-half, as Hwang Hee-Chan capitalised on a poor back pass from Gabriel Magalhaes to Aaron Ramsdale, to nip past the goalkeeper and tap Wolves into a first-half lead.
The Gunners pushed and probed with the silky feet of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard, but found the route to goal blocked by a resolute yellow wall.
However, Arteta's introduction of Nicolas Pepe tipped the tide in the north Londoners' favour, as the Ivory Coast ace beautifully controlled a cross before smashing a vital equaliser in for the Gunners.
And just when the Gunners seemed to have rescued a point, Arsenal went on to steal all three in the dying seconds, as Lacazette glided down the left-hand side of the Wolves defence and struck an effort which squirmed through Jose Sa's hand
Express Sport considers five things we learned at the Emirates Stadium.
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Lage’s Wolves reign began with a measly run of four defeats in five Premier League matches and only two goals scored.
Five months later, they came into the contest at the Emirates Stadium having only lost four of their last 20 league matches and with the second-best defensive record in the whole division.
It is an astounding turnaround for an initially unfancied manager and a team with little to no expectations.
If they can maintain their impenetrable defence and enhance their attacking ruthlessness and creativity, Lage could very well take Wolves on another European adventure.
Hwang Hee Chan capitalised on a poor back pass from Gabriel (Image: GETTY)
When Arsenal began to realise Arthur Melo would not be heading to north London, various reports citing an interest in Wolves’ Ruben Neves began to circulate.
And considering the Portuguese international’s marvellous performance against Arteta’s side, those headlines may very well emerge again.
Neves seems to have everything Arsenal needs in central midfield. Tenacity, intelligence, bite, creativity, industriousness, and precision.
Considering Thomas Partey’s injury concerns, Granit Xhaka’s rashness, and Albert Sambi-Lokonga’s inexperience, Neves would be a wonderful addition to this Arsenal side.
Wolves have been a breath of fresh air to the race for the top four this season. However, their time-wasting antics seemed to begin on the 27th minute when Jose Sa dithered on the ball in the build-up to a free kick.
Wolves are not the only team guilty of intentionally running the clock down and their supporters would, quite rightly, point to Arsenal’s time-wasting antics in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
Debates about the potential involvement and introduction of stop clocks have been regular in football over the years.
Football has so far been resistant to the idea – perhaps it is time to restart those arguments.