Four conclusions as Wolves thrash Arsenal at Molineux
And there it goes...Arsenal's hopes of finishing fourth. Unai Emery's men are now a point behind 4th-placed Chelsea, with trips to Leicester and Burnley still on their watch. Defeat against Wolves hand them a huge blow as Chelsea salvaged a point against Burnley, but luckily, Man City got the much important win against Man United, which keeps Ole's men three points behind 4th place.
Though it was a decent performance, Arsenal's major mistake in this game was lack of movement. As Aubameyang wasn't a part of the squad due to picking up a sinus, the forwards made no runs whatsoever, and Arsenal's midfielders were reluctant to play air balls. Wolves, on the other hand, capitalised on every mistake by Arsenal, and their counter-attacks were immense. Arsenal was lucky to concede only three last night.
With 11 attempts, the London side only managed 3 shots on target, compared to Wolves' three. The difference is, Wolves took their chances but Arsenal did not. They created nearly 11 chances, but there was no end product, which takes me to my first conclusion.
#4 Lack of quality final-balls
The fact that Unai Emery deployed 4 attacking options against such an incredible attacking side was a sign that Arsenal won't sit back. However, it terribly backfired. Mesut Ozil, Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi could not provide with any quality balls for Lacazette. They were all over the place, lacking discipline on the pitch and failing to create chances consistently.
Wolves sat back deep, planning to hit on counter attacks, and their plans were perfectly executed. Whereas Arsenal just could not build up play through the middle or from the wings. Mkhitaryan was more involved in defensive duties than offensive, as Nuno's men broke through the wings with immense pace, and Arsenal's defenders were not a match for them.
Ozil, on the other hand, played as a no.10 last night, and though he tried to play through balls, the German was wasteful at times, which was indeed the highlight of his performance. An inefficient display by Emery's men, and they suffer an away defeat, yet again.