Wolves reacted well, attacking down both flanks – Jarvis was having the most success on the Wolves left as Djourou was struggling to deal with his pace. Vermaelen attacked down Arsenal’s left but his shot was blocked by Johnson. Benayoun again played a good through ball, this time to van Persie and the Dutchman had plenty of time and space due to Johnson slipping at an inopportune moment; RVP was unaware of this and thus snatched at his shot, dragging it wide of Hennessey’s right hand post. Benayoun, this time on the left, cut inside and drove at the Wolves defence but was unfortunate to lose his footing as he reached the penalty area.
Arsenal were completely dominating the possession, but much of it was in the defence and midfield as Wolves sat back, content with defending. Van Persie exchanged passes with Gervinho before attempting a little chip across the box but it was headed out for a corner. Van Persie then whipped in an excellent corner, but it was easily headed away by an organised Wolves defence. Van Persie worked another opportunity, unleashing a shot that was saved by Hennessey at the near post. The Dutchman broke once more and this time Johnson brought him down just outside the box, picking up a yellow card for his trouble. Arteta took the resulting free kick and although it was on target, the Welsh keeper collected it easily enough. Wolves survived this pressure and came back on the attack, eventually working a corner.
It was from this corner that Wolves struck back: the first ball in was cleared but Hunt controlled on the edge of the box and shot. It was a poor attempt but deflected right on to Fletcher’s head and the Scottish international directed his header in to the far corner, wrong-footing Szczesny in goal. The final five minutes of the half were rather flat and although Arsenal pushed for a goal, Wolves were happy with the scoreline and the closest Arsenal came was a Rosicky shot that was easily saved. At half time, Arsenal had totally dominated but had not made full use of the possession. Wolves had mainly sat back, offering some danger on the flanks, but they had not shown enough to really deserve their lucky goal.
The second half started very slowly, with Zubar going down injured twice in the first five minutes before being replaced by Spearman. As in the first half, Arsenal kept the possession but Wolves were happy defending and the Gunners struggled to break them down. A number of crosses were being thrown into the Wolves box, but to no avail as Johnson and Berra dealt with them easily. However, one such cross from Koscielny appeared to strike a Wolves hand. Arsenal appealed strongly, although not overly aggressively. Despite this, the referee saw no need to award a penalty and in fact decided to book Vermaelen for his complaints. Just to rile Arsenal fans even more, Stuart Atwell proceeded to award a handball against Vermaelen a minute later.
Gervinho made an excellent run but his ball was just too far in front of Song, as the Cameroonian was on his heels, and Wolves cleared. Arshavin replaced Benayoun, who was quiet in the second half, as the Gunners searched for a goal. Gervinho was rugby-tackled by Henry as he ran at the defence and although the free kick was given, a booking was distinctly lacking. It appeared as if Arteta would strike it, but as Arsenal looked to surprise Wolves with van Persie taking it the clueless referee got in his way, meaning Wolves now knew what was coming. At the second attempt the Dutchman had a free run at the ball and struck a vicious free kick that was well tipped over by Hennessey.
The corner was taken and eventually it was worked to Mertesacker, but his header was saved fantastically by the keeper. The pressure was being piled on and Wolves were struggling to break out. Then came the first of many flashpoints in the last half an hour of the game: Song was fouled but Atwell again gave nothing, leaving Song to take retribution into his own hands, fouling two players poorly within a second and deservedly receiving a yellow card – Wolves felt it should have been more. Wolves went forward for what seemed the first time in ages and although it came to nothing, Johnson and Vermaelen squared up and Atwell attempted in vain to calm them down – he was completely losing control of the game.
A clash of heads between Chamakh and RVP gave Wolves another break before Rosicky again played in van Persie, but his touch let him down and Wolves cleared. The ball came straight back and Hennessey made another outstanding save, this time from Vermaelen, as they entered the first of six added minutes. Hennessey was booked for taking an age with his goal kick, but other than that Wolves saw out stoppage time well with no clear cut chances despite the enormous pressure. Arsenal fans were left feeling frustrated at Atwell, Wolves’s tactics and the unbelievable performance from Hennessey – even by Emirates Stadium opposition standards he was top-notch. This result now piles the pressure on us to win against both QPR and Fulham which will be tough with those two games being played within three days. Players will need to be rested and they will be a real test of the depth of our squad – by Monday evening we will really know what signings we need in January.
-Source : http://clockendview.com
-Nirav Purohit
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