Arsenal vs Wolves LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the action as the top-four rivals met at the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal staged a dramatic late comeback to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 on Thursday with Nicolas Pepe and Alexander Lacazette scoring the goals to boost their hopes of securing a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Wolves, who began the evening one place behind Arsenal, looked to move into fifth spot as they defended tenaciously to preserve the early lead given to them by Hwang Hee-Chan.
But the home side’s often desperate pressure was finally rewarded in the 82nd minute when Pepe turned well in the box and fired a shot past Wolves keeper Jose Sa.
In a frantic finale, Pedro Neto shot agonisingly wide for Wolves and Martin Odegaard went close for Arsenal before Lacazette scored from close range in the fifth minute of stoppage time to send the home crowd wild.
The win lifted Arsenal into fifth place with 45 points, one behind Manchester United but having played two fewer games.
Relive all the action from the Emirates Stadium below.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli reveals Manchester United turned down chance to sign him
Gabriel Martinelli has revealed that Manchester United turned down the chance to sign the Arsenal forward as a teenager.
Martinelli joined the London club from Ituano in 2019, but had trials at both Barcelona and Manchester United as a youngster before an eventual move to Europe.
Revealing the extent of his contact with Manchester United in an interview with The Athletic, Martinelli outlined that he had four distinct chances at the club’s Carrington training ground.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli reveals Manchester United turned down chance to sign him
Martinelli had four separate trials with Manchester United
Arsenal vs Wolves
Alexandre Lacazette has provided an assist in five of Arsenal’s last seven Premier League matches.
Arsenal vs Wolves
Wolves have already matched last season’s final total of 12 league wins. They have earned 15 points in 2022, second only to Liverpool’s 16 prior to the midweek fixtures.
Arsenal vs Wolves
The Gunners have kept 11 league clean sheets this campaign, one short of their total number for 2020-21.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Bruno Lage always knew fearless fighter Raul Jimenez would lead frontline again
Wolves boss Bruno Lage never had any doubts “fighter” Raul Jimenez would not have the character needed to return to top form after suffering a life-threatening injury when fracturing his skull.
Jimenez is set to return to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night for the first time since the horrific incident, which happened during an aerial challenge with former Arsenal defender David Luiz in November 2020.
The Mexico forward spent around eight months in recovery, which was chronicled in a documentary made by Wolves, and he revealed doctors had told him it was a “miracle” he could play again.
Bruno Lage always knew fearless fighter Raul Jimenez would lead frontline again
The Mexico forward spent around eight months in recovery after fracturing his skull.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Neto on his return
Pedro Neto made his return to the Wolves team as he came on as a susbtitute against Leicester City after 10 months on the sidelines due to injury. Neto spoke about the ‘unbelievable’ reception he got from the Wolves fans saying:
It was unbelievable. It gave me goosebumps. 10 months after some difficult times I am finally back.
“The best scenario it was at home and an even better scenario would have been with a goal, but I am very happy to be back and to hear the stadium singing my name was unbelievable.
“I felt very good. I felt confident and all the work I have done since my injury has been amazing, but I will continue to work. My mentality was always there, I will never change.
“I will learn a lot, but with the mentality I have, when I come on the pitch, I have to come with full confidence to do what I do normally.”
Arsenal vs Wolves
Wolves can equal their club record of five successive top-flight away wins. They have matched their club record of seven Premier League away victories in a season, set in 2019-20.
Their only defeat in eight league games came against Arsenal two weeks ago.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Arteta on Wolves
In his press conference yesterday Mikel Arteta spoke about what he expects from Wolves since the last time the teams met and how his players know the importance of getting a positive result this evening. He said:
Nothing different. I think they are really consistent, the work that the manager and the coaching staff are doing is exceptional. They have been on a really good run in recent years, they have a really clear way of playing and they are a really competitive team. It’s really hard to beat them and it will be tough tomorrow.
“I think they know. They [the players] know what every game means for us, we know where we are and that race is going to right until the end. There are a lot of clubs involved, you see very different results that you don’t expect and we play at home, the importance of getting the points when we play at home is going to be crucial to get to the destination.”
Arsenal vs Wolves
Arsenal have already matched last season’s final total of eight home league wins. Their tally of 13 Premier League victories from September onwards has only been bettered by Manchester City and Liverpool.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Smith Rowe and Tomiyasu out
As the team news dropped the two surprising omissions for Arsenal were Emile Smith Rowe and Takehiro Tomiyasu. The club have confirmed that Smith Rowe misses out due to illness (not Covid) and Tomiyasu is having calf issues.
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