Arsenal’s concerning Premier League form continued at Molineux as Riccardo Calafiori’s late own goal saw Mikel Arteta’s team drop points for the fifth time in their last seven matches.
The Gunners found themselves in a seemingly unassailable position an hour into their clash against Wolves, before a diabolical final half an hour allowed the home team to secure an elusive point, significantly denting the away side’s title aspirations.
While it’s still in the North Londoners hands, more dropped points will certainly set alarm bells ringing for Arteta. It’s two wins in seven for his team, and with Manchester City starting to pick up form, there is genuine cause for concern for the first time in months.
Arsenal were without Martin Odegaard for their clash against the Old Gold, and Arteta’s response to this absence was to experiment with an unconventional set-up – and it’s safe to say this didn’t work as planned.
Wolves 2-2 Arsenal: Mikel Arteta’s Bukayo Saka experiment didn’t work
From an Arsenal perspective, the final half an hour was about as bad as it can get. Playing against the side sat bottom of the league, the Gunners fell apart in almost every aspect of the game.
The passing was sloppy, the build-up principles were thrown out of the window, the press evaporated, and the resilience of their defence was non-existent. Arsenal’s unique selling point has always been their ability to control games, yet none of that identity was visible in the closing stages in the West Midlands.
That said, this period was so bad that it’s almost something of an anomaly in the context of the Gunners’ season. For this reason, it was what came before it that should be more worrying for Arteta.
The Spaniard opted to deploy Saka as a number ten in the absence of Odegaard and Kai Havertz, and this backfired. While the England international opened the scoring and had individual moments that warranted his selection in this role, it didn’t work collectively.
Saka was tasked with being the connector between Arsenal’s midfield and attack, a responsibility that has never really been placed on him. The 24-year-old’s greatest attributes are best emphasised from wide positions, not centrally.
He was subsequently not involved in areas of the pitch where he could really hurt Wolves, and the rest of the team suffered. Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres are off-the-ball runners, meaning there was no focal point that Arsenal’s attack could run through.
The result was a turgid and stodgy opening hour that, while was structured and controlled, lacked attacking flair to put the game out of sight. Had Arsenal been more functional in the opening 60 minutes, they might have amassed more than the ten shots they did, and the diabolical final 30 may not have been relevant.
| Wolves | Stats | Arsenal |
| 42% | Possession | 58% |
| 5 | Shots | 10 |
| 2 | Shots on Target | 4 |
| 1 | Corners | 3 |
| 0.29 | Expected Goals | 1.86 |
Piero Hincapie’s performance was a shining light in Wolves vs Arsenal
While many players flattered to deceive at Molineux, one stood up. Piero Hincapie was outstanding for Arsenal on the night, leaving the West Midlands with his head held high.
The Ecuadorian’s performances have been subject to scrutiny for much of his first season in North London, but, in the last month, he’s started to find his feet. Selected ahead of the injury-prone Calafiori again, he produced an immaculate defensive display.
However, what was more positive was arguably what he added to Arsenal’s attack. His defensive credentials have never been questioned, although what he’s been able to do the other way has constantly been raised as a topic for debate amongst the Gunners faithful.
In this game, not only did he find himself through on goal to double Arsenal’s lead, but he was also constantly finding himself in dangerous areas in the final third, threatening Wolves’ backline. He was Arteta’s shining light on a dark night.
