Match ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2, Arsenal 1.
WolvesWolverhampton Wanderers2ArsenalArsenal1
Arsenal had two players sent off as they threw away a lead and lost to Wolves - who won for the first time in nine Premier League games.
The Gunners, who had earlier hit the woodwork twice and had a goal disallowed, went ahead when Nicolas Pepe held off two Wolves challenges and curled a fine finish into the net.
But Arsenal were reduced to 10 men when defender David Luiz brought down Willian Jose, with Ruben Neves equalising with the resulting penalty in first-half injury time.
Joao Moutinho scored with a brilliant strike from 30 yards out to put the hosts ahead soon after the restart.
However, the Gunners were then reduced to nine men as goalkeeper Bernd Leno handled the ball outside of his penalty area after racing out trying to deny Adama Traore.
This was Wolves' first league victory since a 2-1 victory at Molineux against Chelsea on 15 December, although they had also won two FA Cup ties - against Crystal Palace and National League North side Chorley - since then.
Wolves remain in 14th and Arsenal - who would have gone sixth with victory - stay 10th, eight points behind fourth-placed Leicester City in the final Champions League qualification spot.
- Luiz red card changed game - Arteta
- Wolves v Arsenal as it happened, plus the rest of Tuesday's Premier League matches
- Lawro's predictions v Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett
Luiz red card changes the game
The turning point came in first-half injury time when Arsenal were leading 1-0 and were dominant.
Daniel Podence played the ball through to Jose and the Brazilian, on his home debut, had his heel clipped from behind by compatriot Luiz.
Referee Craig Pawson decided that Luiz had made no attempt to play the ball and sent the centre-back off. It was Luiz's third red card for Arsenal after also being dismissed in the 2-2 draw at Chelsea in January 2020 and then again in the 3-0 loss to Manchester City in June.
After the match, both managers had contrasting opinions with Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo saying Pawson had "no other option" but to award the penalty and send off Luiz.
However, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said he "cannot tell you where the contact is" and suggested the club may appeal Luiz's red card.
Wolves, whose main threat had been restricted to set-pieces and long-range efforts, equalised with Neves' penalty, which he fired into the top corner.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta made a defensive substitution at the break as centre-back Gabriel came on for forward Alexandre Lacazette, but it only took the hosts four minutes of the second half to go ahead, through Moutinho's superb strike.
The visitors brought on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for goalscorer Pepe in the 61st minute in an attempt to rescue something from the game.
But Leno made a shocking decision in the 72nd minute as he sprinted out of his box, trying to reach the ball before the pacey Traore, but the goalkeeper misjudged the bounce, handled the ball and was dismissed.
With Mat Ryan, who signed from Brighton last month, injured, third-choice goalkeeper Runar Runarsson was given a Premier League debut.
The 25-year-old Iceland international, signed for Β£1.8m from Dijon in September, did well to deny Pedro Neto and substitute Vitinha as Wolves looked to finish the game off.
That left Arsenal largely playing with two banks of four, in defence and midfield, with long spells of no-one playing up front before they could regain possession.
Aubameyang and Hector Bellerin had shots from the edge of the penalty area blocked, but the Gunners could not force an unlikely equaliser.
Arsenal's first-half display a plus for Arteta
When these two sides met on 29 November at Emirates Stadium, Wolves won 2-1 and Arteta was facing questions over whether he would lose his job with the Gunners down in 14th.
Arsenal had gone into Tuesday's game on an unbeaten run of seven Premier League matches and the Spaniard will surely be disappointed they did not extend that sequence, because they could have taken the game beyond Wolves in the first half.
The Gunners nearly went ahead inside the opening 40 seconds when Saka hit the post after a fine pass from the excellent Thomas Partey.
Saka then had an effort saved by Rui Patricio before the England midfielder did put the ball in the net, but it was ruled out by the video assistant referee because Lacazette was offside in the build-up.
Pepe was denied when his strike was superbly pushed on to the crossbar by Patricio, but the Gunners' record signing did get on the scoresheet when he did superbly to nutmeg two Wolves defenders before curling the ball into the far corner.
At that point, it looked like Arsenal would run away with the match, but the penalty and first red card on the stroke of half-time changed everything, with the Gunners unable to create any real opportunities in the second half.
'I cannot tell you where the contact is' - what they said
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said: "Everything changes with the penalty, the dynamic of the game changes there. I think the referee doesn't have any other option in both situations [the penalty and the red card for Luiz].
"The [Moutinho] goal is amazing. He is such a talented player and he deserves this moment. It's a very welcome win. It means a lot, we have been in a tough moment.
"We have done many beautiful things in past seasons and we want to emulate them again. The standards are very high and we have to chase them.
"We cannot allow ourselves to ever put our heads down. I will not allow our players to stop believing in themselves."
Arsenal manager Arteta told Match of the Day: "The team was really on top of the game, we should have been three- or four-nil up and in that action [the Luiz red] the game changed completely.
"I've seen it 10 times in different angles and I cannot tell you where the contact is. If they have another 50 different angles to watch it, maybe I will be surprised. I looked at seven different angles and I cannot see any contact there.
"The team kept trying, kept playing, kept believing. At half-time, the boys were so animated because they believed they could still win the game. Obviously it was an incredible goal from long range, before that they didn't have any chances. But still we lost and we have to react.
"We hit the post, hit the bar, the keeper made a couple of great saves. We played exceptionally well, scored one goal and should have scored three or four and had more of a gap, but obviously you concede two red cards in the Premier League. I don't have any [complaints about] the second red card.
"The team is encouraging me every day to believe in them and to give me a positive feeling all the time."
Wolves do the double over Arsenal - the stats
- Wolves completed their first league double over Arsenal since 1978-79.
- Since Arteta's first game in charge of Arsenal on 26 December 2019, the Gunners have been shown nine Premier League red cards, six more than any other side.
- Only Sheffield United and West Brom (16 each) have conceded the first goal in more Premier League games this season than Wolves (15).
- Arsenal's Pepe has scored three goals in his past four starts in the league, as many as in his previous 16.
- Pepe has scored in three consecutive away league matches for the first time since January 2019, when he scored in four in a row on the road for Lille.
- Since making his Premier League debut for Arsenal in August 2019, Luiz has picked up more red cards (three) and conceded more penalties (six) than any other player in the competition.
- Moutinho scored his first home goal for Wolves (61 games at Molineux) - and all three of his Premier League goals have come from outside the box.
- Leno became the second Arsenal goalkeeper to be sent off in the Premier League, after David Seaman in November 1993 against West Ham.
- Granit Xhaka made his 200th appearance for the Gunners. Since his debut for the club in August 2016, he has played 46 games more than the next player (Bellerin, 154).
What's next?
This was the first of three successive home matches for Wolves, who take on Leicester in the Premier League on Sunday (14:00 GMT) and then play Southampton in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Thursday, 11 February (17:30).
Arsenal are in the West Midlands again for their next match as they face Aston Villa in the league on Saturday (12:30).
Player of the match
RΓΊben NevesRΓΊben Neves
with an average of 8.01
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Avg
- Squad number8Player nameRΓΊben NevesAverage rating
8.01
- Squad number28Player nameJoΓ£o MoutinhoAverage rating
7.81
- Squad number7Player namePedro NetoAverage rating
7.47
- Squad number37Player nameTraorΓ©Average rating
7.19
- Squad number12Player nameWillian JosΓ©Average rating
6.96
- Squad number15Player nameBolyAverage rating
6.95
- Squad number11Player nameRui PatrΓcioAverage rating
6.80
- Squad number16Player nameCoadyAverage rating
6.63
- Squad number10Player nameDaniel PodenceAverage rating
6.61
- Squad number20Player nameVitinhaAverage rating
6.54
- Squad number49Player nameKilmanAverage rating
6.47
- Squad number22Player nameNΓ©lson SemedoAverage rating
6.46
- Squad number32Player nameDendonckerAverage rating
6.31
- Squad number17Player nameFΓ‘bio SilvaAverage rating
6.12
Arsenal
Avg
Squad number19Player namePΓ©pΓ©Average rating5.54
- Squad number7Player nameSakaAverage rating
5.51
- Squad number32Player nameSmith RoweAverage rating
4.93
- Squad number18Player nameParteyAverage rating
4.89
Squad number34Player nameXhakaAverage rating4.64
Squad number16Player nameHoldingAverage rating4.58
Squad number9Player nameLacazetteAverage rating4.54
- Squad number13Player nameRΓΊnarssonAverage rating
4.39
- Squad number6Player nameGabriel MagalhΓ£esAverage rating
4.37
Squad number2Player nameBellerΓnAverage rating4.22
- Squad number17Player nameCΓ©dric SoaresAverage rating
4.19
Squad number14Player nameAubameyangAverage rating3.81
Squad number1Player nameLenoAverage rating3.24
- Squad number23Player nameDavid LuizAverage rating
2.95
Line-ups
Wolves
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 11Rui PatrΓcio
- 22NΓ©lson Semedo
- 16Coady
- 15Boly
- 49KilmanBooked at 28mins
- 8NevesBooked at 47minsSubstituted forDendonckerat 74'minutes
- 28JoΓ£o MoutinhoBooked at 13mins
- 37TraorΓ©
- 10PodenceSubstituted forVitinhaat 62'minutes
- 7Neto
- 12Da SilvaSubstituted forFΓ‘bio Silvaat 90+1'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Hoever
- 17FΓ‘bio Silva
- 18Gibbs-White
- 20Vitinha
- 21Ruddy
- 32Dendoncker
- 42Richards
- 54Otasowie
Arsenal
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1LenoBooked at 72mins
- 2BellerΓn
- 16Holding
- 23David LuizBooked at 45mins
- 17CΓ©dric Soares
- 18ParteyBooked at 41minsSubstituted forRΓΊnarssonat 74'minutes
- 34XhakaBooked at 62mins
- 7Saka
- 32Smith Rowe
- 19PΓ©pΓ©Substituted forAubameyangat 61'minutes
- 9LacazetteSubstituted forGabrielat 45'minutes
Substitutes
- 6Gabriel
- 8Ceballos
- 11Γdegaard
- 12Willian
- 13RΓΊnarsson
- 14Aubameyang
- 21Chambers
- 25Elneny
- 35Martinelli
- Referee:
- Craig Pawson
Match Stats
Home TeamWolvesAway TeamArsenal
- Possession
- Home55%
- Away45%
- Shots
- Home11
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home7
- Away3
- Corners
- Home9
- Away6
- Fouls
- Home11
- Away8
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2, Arsenal 1.
Post update
Foul by NΓ©lson Semedo (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Post update
Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Attempt missed. Vitinha (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Pedro Neto.
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Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by RΓΊnar Alex RΓΊnarsson.
Substitution
Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. FΓ‘bio Silva replaces Willian JosΓ©.
Post update
Adama TraorΓ© (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Rob Holding (Arsenal).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
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Attempt blocked. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by HΓ©ctor BellerΓn.
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Attempt missed. Willian JosΓ© (Wolverhampton Wanderers) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Adama TraorΓ© with a cross.
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Foul by Leander Dendoncker (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Post update
Rob Holding (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Granit Xhaka.
Post update
Attempt saved. Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Maximilian Kilman.
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Attempt saved. Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Vitinha.
Substitution
Substitution, Arsenal. RΓΊnar Alex RΓΊnarsson replaces Thomas Partey.
Substitution
Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Leander Dendoncker replaces RΓΊben Neves.
Post update
VAR Decision: Red Card Bernd Leno (Arsenal).
- You can stream all the goals and highlights from Sunday's Premier League matches with Match of the Day 2 on BBC iPlayer
Comments
Join the conversation
Second red was just stupid from the keeper.
Dear BBC - now leave Nuno alone...
Cannot for the life of me understand the Luiz red card? Penalty for sure but I thought we got rid of the double hit on a team? The rules state you can get a red for not playing the ball, but you can get a yellow for going through the back of a player and breaking legs - just doesnβt make sense. If anything a blessing in disguise for Arsenal fans, gets Gabriel back in the team!
Tremendous by Wolves. What a 2nd goal!