Report: Wolves 0-1 Arsenal

Riccardo Calafiori marked his return to action with a thumping strike to earn all three points on a dramatic afternoon at Molineux.

The Italian struck the winner late on, and was only on the pitch thanks to a controversial red card shown to Myles Lewis-Skelly late in the first half. Calafiori came on at half-time to fill the vacant left-back slot, having missed the last six games with injury.

Wolves were also reduced to ten men with 20 minutes left, and soon after Joao Gomes was dismissed, we brought the deadlock.

It proved to be enough, on an afternoon when the side showed tremendous character in adversity.

Havertz’s headers

Coming into the game on the back of a 12-game unbeaten run in the league, we started positively. In the first minute, Lewis-Skelly turned his man near the centre circle and embarked on a powerful bustling run that is fast becoming a trademark.

But it was the hosts who had the first attempt on goal. Nelson Semedo streaked away from Leandro Trossard on the right and swung in a deep cross to the arriving Pablo Sarabia. The Spaniard caught hold off his first-time volley sweetly, but it flew over the bar.

Kai Havertz saw a header from Trossard’s well-weighted cross drop just the wrong side of the post, with Jose Sa scrambling along his line.

Another header from Havertz shortly afterwards did require a Sa save though. Ethan Nwaneri started the move with a quick-release pass in the midfield, and Trossard’s cross was perfect for the German, but Sa kept out his diving header with a smart stop with his legs.

Chances were hard to come by, with the home defence sitting deep. Declan Rice won a free-kick in a central position just outside the area as he looked to weave his way into the box. Nwaneri stepped up but saw his drive hit the wall. His follow up shot was also charged down.

Controversial red

Then, a huge flashpoint late in the half. Matt Doherty looked to bring the ball out of defence on the counter attack but was tripped by Lewis-Skelly 10 yards outside the Wolves box. The referee quickly got out his red card, to the bemusement of the Arsenal players, and indeed many inside Molineux.

Mikel Arteta sent on Calafiori for the second half, with Nwaneri making way.

We came out looking fired up. Rice found Gabriel at the far post with a good cross, but his cut back was cleared. Rice himself then found himself in space to shoot. He strode into the box and blasted goalwards but Sa parried away for a corner.

The hosts were always a danger though with the extra man. David Raya saved low down from Hwang Hee-Chan before Sarabia dragged a shot wide.

Momentum shifts

Set pieces looked to be the key for us breaking through. Rice’s fizzing free-kick from the right was headed just over by Havertz, but at the other end we survived two big chances in a minute.

First Raya did well to claw out a deflected Matheus Cunha shot, before Cunha shot wide from the corner.  The hosts were building up a head of steam, but then they were down to ten as well.

As we entered the final 20 minutes the referee showed another red card, this time to Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes for a second bookable offence on Jurrien Timber. And within five minutes of being back to a level playing field, we took the lead.

Martinell’s cross was only half cleared, and there was Calafiori to thump home low in off the post on the half-volley. A lovely finish from the Italian on his return from injury.

Raya made a good save to deny Rayan Ait-Nouri when the wing-back broke free late on, but other than that we gave away very little to see out a satisfying win.

What’s next

We complete our Champions League campaign on Wednesday, away to Girona. We are virtually assured of a place in the top eight, but we can still finish second if we win and Barcelona lose. All 18 matches are played at the same time. Then on Sunday, we host Manchester City in the Premier League.