Arsenal survived the controversial sacking of young full-back Miles Lewis-Skelly to secure a vital three points at Wolves and stay hot on top of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
Lewis-Skelly was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Matt Doherty after 43 minutes, with the defender bringing down the former Tottenham player just outside the Wolves area as he tried to launch a counter-attack. Referee Michael Oliver deemed it a serious foul with his view supported by VAR, although it looked a tough call with the visitors quick to express their displeasure.
Wolves’ Joao Gomes was also sent off with 20 minutes remaining – and there could be few complaints about that decision – with Arsenal scoring soon after through Riccardo Calafiori, who had come on at half-time as Mikel Arteta overhauled package after. The departure of Lewis-Skelly.
It was a deserved win for the Gunners, who showed more attacking intent throughout against a Wolves side still struggling with relegation.
The win keeps Arsenal six points behind Liverpool, who beat Ipswich 4-1 at Anfield.
Three points for Arsenal ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FTLsKJuV4r
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 25, 2025
Wolves’ charms almost open the door for Arsenal
Wolves were almost the architects of their own downfall early on, twice wreaking havoc at the back and almost giving Arsenal a chance.
But Santiago Beuno cleared just wide of Gabriel Martinelli after the first mistake, before goalkeeper Jose Sa got away after a heavy touch that almost allowed Kai Havertz the simplest of finishes.
At the other end, Rayan Ait-Nouri went close but failed to connect with Pablo Sarabia’s reverse free-kick from the left.
Arsenal were slowly beginning to assert their dominance, but Havertz missed two good chances to open the scoring. The German has been widely criticized for his lack of killer instinct in recent weeks, although he managed a goal and an assist against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League in midweek.
However, the German forward left his lines at Molineux. First, he headed home Leandro Trossard’s cross after 19 minutes and, five minutes later, the former Chelsea forward nodded another Trossard cross straight at Sa when he should have done better.
Martinelli saw his penalty appeals rejected by both Oliver and VAR after 26 minutes after he felt he was brought down by Emmanuel Agbadou.
Angry Arsenal confused by red card
Arsenal were angry, but that was nothing compared to the outpouring of anger that followed Lewis-Skelley’s dismissal two minutes before the break.
Referee Oliver did not endear himself to the Arsenal staff or fans and caused more gnashing of teeth three minutes into the restart when Gomes, already booked for kicking the ball, did it again but escaped further punishment .
But the 10 men were dominant. Gabriel failed to pick out a team-mate when he headed over, Jurien Timber saw a penalty appeal waved away while Sha had to get down well to save Declan Rice’s effort.
At the other end, David Raya produced a superb save to deny substitute Hwang Hee-Chan before Havertz put another header wide.
It was end-to-end and the much-fancied Matheus Cunha could have scored twice within a minute. His initial effort was deflected and brought a fine save by Raya and, from the resulting corner, the Brazilian shot wide.
Gomes sees red and Arsenal capitalise
The game changed in the 70′ when the numbers were tied. Gomes clearly hadn’t learned from his previous exit and hit Timber with a nasty challenge and saw the inevitable second yellow and subsequent red.
Arsenal took full advantage and Calafiori opened the scoring, smashing home after Nelson Semedo had made a mess of Martinelli’s cross.
Wolves’ best chance to equalize fell to Ait-Nouri, but Raya came off his line to save his effort as Arsenal held on.
