Wolves 2-2 Arsenal

Arsenal squandered a two-goal lead to blow the title race wide open as Wolves grabbed a 2-2 stoppage-time draw at Molineux.

Tom Edozie, 19, came off the bench to score the equalizer on his Premier League debut following a mix-up between Gabriel and David Raya amid extraordinary scenes as Mikel Arteta watched in disbelief as the Gunners lost control against the bottom club.

Bukayo Saka’s early goal looked set to make it a straightforward night for the Premier League leaders with Arsenal completely dominating the first half. When Piero Hincapie scored his first goal for the club early in the second, that should have been it.

But Hugo Bueno’s stunning curling strike into the top corner changed the mood and Arsenal sat back and tried to hold on to their advantage. It was undone by Edozie’s crisp strike that Riccardo Calafiori could not keep out to trigger bedlam inside Molineux.

Arsenal extend their lead at the top to five points but Manchester City now have a game in hand and with Arteta’s side still to travel to the Etihad Stadium this season, this could still be seen as a major turning point in the Premier League title race.

Merson slams ‘slow and lazy’ Arsenal

Sky Sports’ Paul Merson:

“If Man City win all their games now, they will win the league. It’s disappointing.

“You can’t play in second gear. When Wolves went 2-2, there was urgency. They didn’t have that before. You can’t play like that. Every game is a cup final at the end.

“You have to play at a high tempo. If Arsenal play at a high tempo, Wolves can’t live with them. But to play the way they played, and it’s slow and lazy and they give the ball away, then Wolves will always be in the game.

“It could come back and bite them. It’s really, really disappointing tonight.

“It’s coming at full blast now, it’s bottle jobs, melting. It’s full on now to pull away against Brentford and then be two goals up against the worst team in the league.”

Arteta: We deserve hits

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta talking with Sky Sports:

“It’s hard to accept in the second half how we didn’t perform at any level in any aspect of the game, at the standards required to win a game in the Premier League, and we paid the price.

“Too many things that went wrong were one after the other. It’s best not to judge it. We’re all too emotional about it and it’s not the time to do it. It’s a moment when you’re not performing and you’re at this level and the expectations are where they are. You’ve got to take the hit because, well, we deserve it.”

Saka: We’ve lost momentum

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka speaks to Sky Sports:

“It’s very flat. I’m very disappointed with the result and especially how we played in the second half, it’s far from the level we’ve set this season.

“It’s time for us to reflect on the few performances and just fix the issues right away so we can get back to winning games and making runs and building momentum because we’ve lost it a little bit right now.”

Smith: Man City will want it now

Sky Sports’ Alan Smith:

“We’ve talked so often that they’re the best team, the best squad in the league. But it doesn’t count for anything if you don’t have that composure and ability to play and get results under pressure. That word bottle will be used a lot in the next few days.

“Man City will think they can feel our breath on their shoulder and with their experience, with Guardiola’s experience, they will really want to now.

“Obviously it’s a big game against Newcastle for them at the weekend, but they can almost feel the nerves of the Arsenal team watching tonight.”

Who is Tom Edozie?

The Wolves youngster, whose right-footed swing changed the face of the title race, is not even known by his own supporters. Even his manager is figuring him out. “We’re still learning about him as well,” said Edwards of Edozie.

The 19-year-old attacking midfielder signed a professional contract in 2024 and has appeared as an unused substitute ahead of this game, but didn’t even have his own Wikipedia page at the time his effort deflected into Arsenal’s net.

“He’s impressed us with some really good moments. He’s technically a gifted player, but we’re still learning about him ourselves. We just had a feeling,” added Edwards.

“JJ [Bellegarde]I thought, had been brilliant in the game. He’s obviously been out for a while. Sometimes you have a feeling and then that gut turns out to be right. When he came on I just put my arm around him and said this could be your moment, go get it.

“The first couple of touches I think it was difficult. Declan Rice was breathing down his neck. It was a bit new for him but then I thought he took his goal brilliantly. It was a nice moment for him.”

The history of the match in statistics…

What’s happening in the Premier League?