Arsenal progress evident as unlikely stars help Gunners keep Premier League top-four hopes motoring

When the producers at Amazon are editing their documentary of Arsenal’s season, you suspect this match against Wolves will get plenty of airtime.

For so long, it looked like it was going to be a hammer blow to Arsenal’s top-four hopes as they gifted Wolves an opening goal inside 10 minutes.

Gabriel, who has been excellent this season, made an uncharacteristic error as he under hit a back-pass to Aaron Ramsdale. Hwang Hee-chan nipped in and made no mistake from a tight angle.

From there Wolves were typically resilient and hard to break down. Prior to tonight, they had taken the lead in 45 Premier League games and not once had they succumbed to defeat.

You could see why watching them against Arsenal. The Gunners were able to get in on numerous occasions, amassing 26 shots in the end, but almost every time a Wolves player would throw themselves in front of the ball to make a heroic block.

Eventually, though, the resistance broke in the 82nd minute as Nicolas Pepe found a way through.

Mikel Arteta has said the Ivorian looks “a different player” since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, and that certainly looks like the case.

He was electric off the bench against Wolves, playing with pace and purpose, and he took his goal well after fellow substitute Eddie Nketiah cut the ball back to him.

At that stage, you wondered if Arsenal would settle for a point but instead they pushed for all three.

And Pepe, again, was at the heart of it as he slid in Alexandre Lacazette, whose shot was turned into his own net by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.

That goal came in the 95th minute and Emirates Stadium erupted in a manner that hasn’t been seen since fans returned after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves accused Arsenal