Our skipper struck twice after the restart to ensure we got the victory we thoroughly deserved for a dominant display at Molineux, meaning we have now gone three league games in a row without conceding for the first time since July 2020.
Deadlock at the break
The opening half hour belonged to us as we carved out some decent half-time chances without managing to get on the scoresheet. Gabriel Jesus had the ball in the net just five minutes from time but he was offside and Bucayo Saka’s deflected cross saw Jose Sa climb the ball over his crossbar. But we suffered a setback when Granit Xhaka was forced off after just 15 minutes and Wolves almost capitalized during a period of reorganization when a quick counter saw Adama Traore feed Goncalo Guedes who was a whisker away from drilling in upper corner. However, we settled again and Jesus glanced a header just wide from Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross, before the Brazilian clipped the crossbar with Saka cutting inside onto his right foot and on target. Despite our dominance, the game remained in the knife and the team in old gold had a golden opportunity to take the lead at the interval when Guedes pounced on a William Saliba backpass and looked destined to score, but a superb sliding block from Gabriel saved his defense partner.
Odegard in doubles
It looked like the first goal would be crucial, and luckily for us, we grabbed it 10 minutes into the second half with a well-worked move. Gabriel Martinelli picked up the ball in the center and fed fellow international Jesus, who slotted it past Fabio Vieira in the box. He managed to engage Sa and catch the ball invitingly across the box, where Odegaard was about to hit home. That gave us the lead we deserved, and we almost doubled it soon after when Martinelli saw an effort from a tight angle trouble Sa, but with 15 minutes to go our skipper managed to get his own and our second . we are in complete control. The attack began with Martinelli winning the ball at Wolves right-back and finding Zinchenko who saw a dangerous low ball deflected back into Martinelli’s path. His low shot was saved by the legs of Sa but Odegaard pounced on the rebound to register his sixth of the campaign. In their last game under Steve Davies, the home side pushed all the way to try and drag themselves back into the game and Daniel Pontens came so close to scoring a brace after being picked up, but we held firm to sign off before the World Cup in a perfect way.
Facts and statistics
We have scored in each of our last 30 meetings with Wolves in all competitions, dating back to a 1-0 defeat in February 1979. Only West Bromwich Albion (32) currently have a longer scoring streak in all competitions . Our five-point lead is the longest we have had at the top of the Premier League since December 13, 2013. Wolves will be bottom of the Premier League table on Christmas Day for the first time since 2003/04, a season in which they finished bottom and were relegated. We will be top of the Premier League table on Christmas Day for the first time since 2007/08, a season in which we eventually finished third. Wolves have won just two of their last 22 Premier League games (6 draws 14), failing to score in 11 games in that run. We are the only team to have scored in every Premier League game this season, while also having the joint-fewest goals conceded (11) and joint-most clean sheets so far this season (7). We have kept as many clean sheets away from home this season (6) as we did in the entire 2021/22 season. Martin Odegaard is our top scorer in the Premier League this season (6 goals), while only Kevin De Bruyne, James Maddison and Leandro Trossard (6 each) have been involved in more away goals in the competition this season than our captain (5-4 goals). , 1 assist).
What’s next
We now have to wait 44 days for their next league game, when West Ham United take to the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day after the World Cup, before 2022 ends with a New Year’s Eve trip to Brighton & Hove Albion. Copyright 2022 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use excerpts from this article is granted provided appropriate credit is given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
