Arsenal 1-1 Wolves - 4 things we learned
Arsenal and Wolves drew 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium, on Sunday 11th November 2018.
This day was Remembrance Day and was more poignant than normal since it was the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One and the armistice ending the conflict. Whilst the day overall was one to remember, the performance from Arsenal wasn’t.
Wolves may not have much recent Premier League experience, but they are a club with heritage and have high plans in utilising their Premier League status. They have matched other top six sides this season, and narrowly lost to Tottenham last week. However, they put in a fine performance today and in some ways were unlucky not to win.
Arsenal's play, in contrast, was disjointed, full of poor passing, and a lack of tempo, energy, and ideas.
The Wolves boss, Nuno Espirito Santo, had a strong game plan which paid off to a good degree. He got his team to press us, move into attacking areas quicker, and looked to get behind Arsenal, and especially in their left-back area.
Wolves took the lead, after a poor ball from Xhaka and the defence not catching runners. Arsenal and Wolves had chances to score, as Leno made a low save and Iwobi and Lacazette had shots blocked.
The second half saw a slight increase in tempo, though the passing from Arsenal was still weak. The forward players were still showing a lack of sharpness and incisiveness, which was not allowing them to open up the Wolves defence.
There were more chances for the Gunners as Aubameyang hit the post, and Bellerin shot from the penalty spot over the bar.
Wolves had some very late chances, bringing up great saves from Bernd Leno, but Arsenal equalised via substitute Mkhitaryan. It was via a cross-cum-shot, which deceived the goalkeeper and defence and crept it.
Wolves should be credited for their hard work and pressing, which clearly was planned out, and executed well. However, Arsenal too didn’t pass the ball as crisply as they could have, and both of these factors lent to the draw.
Did Wolves have better chances? Possibly, though Arsenal did threaten on some occasions. However, major points for Arsenal were:
#1 Wolves' game plan
Wolves' game plan worked well in this match at the Emirates. Their boss, Nuno Espirito Santo, implemented a high press, exploiting Arsenal's weak left side and their generally weak defensive capabilities. Via doing this, Wolves were able to expose Kolasinac and Arsenal's defensive frailties, and take advantage of Arsenal's weak defensive positioning.
Kolasnic was often caught out of position, and he didn't track back as much as he should have to counter their attacks. This often left much space for their wide players to utilise and thus stretched Arsenal at the back.
Moreover, bar Torreira's positioning, Wolves were able to move in and create chances, and Arsenal proved that they need to step up defensively and correct longstanding defensive deficiencies.
Holding and Mustafi also got caught one on one, and whilst they handled Salah, Firmino, and Mane well, with respect to Wolves their attackers are not on the same level. And they often struggled in this regard. It took some expert saves by Leno to cover for their errors in judgment and positioning.
Wolves should be commended for at least trying to figure Arsenal out, and take the game to them.