Arsenal could only manage a 1-1 draw against Wolves, although the Gunners did not deserve the point while Wolves so thoroughly deserved all three points.
A somewhat unintentional, lucky goal from Henrikh Mkhitaryan summed up Arsenal’s night against Wolves as the visitors left crushed after collecting only a point when they deserved all three. Wolves outshone the Gunners for best parts of the game and showed astute defensive skills to never let their hosts get into their rhythm.
After a grave error from Granit Xhaka gifted Wolves the opener, Arsenal never looked like getting back into the game and scoring. However, later when the Gunners found some form, they were utterly profligate, with Bellerin and Aubameyang missing great chances to equalise and potentially lead the game.
Overall the performance was lackluster, lacked the required energy and tempo. Unai Emery will not be a happy man as, despite his side being unbeaten in 15-games now, they are still winless in their last three games. Let us see how the players rated against Wolves.
Bernd Leno – 9
The man of the match on the afternoon, Leno showed his class with a terrific performance in goal. Made crucial saves to keep the score 1-0. Could do nothing for the goal scored by Wolves, but there is no chance of Cech dislodging him from his position now.
Hector Bellerin – 6.5
Bellerin had a decent outing, notably creating the brilliant chance for Aubameyang in the first half. He had some chances of his own to score but missed those as well. Defensively he was quite good, but in the light of his teammates was made to look like a shadow.
Shkodran Mustafi – 5
Mustafi might be excellent in last-ditch defending, but his ability to control the defensive line was lacking. That factor allowed Wolves to get past Arsenal with ease and they were finding themselves in opportunistic positions time and again. Contrasting performances from the German compared to the Liverpool game.
Rob Holding – 6
Holding has been making himself an essential part of the side since he’s been drafted in place of Sokratis. Another good performance from the central defender. In the last part of the game due to Adam Traore’s pace, he struggled a bit, but overall he had a decent enough performance to continue in his position for the next game.
Sead Kolasinac – 3
Awful display from the Bosnian, who was all over the place defensively and from an attacking perspective did not offer much. In fact, one can argue that Arsenal’s other makeshift left-backs had to provide more in the past few games than Kolasinac. Monreal will be readily welcomed back into the side after the International break.
Lucas Torreira – 7
Another standard, high-octane performance from Torreira in midfield. He might have not had the usual control over proceedings but did play his part with excellence in breaking up play and winning the ball on multiple occasions.
Granit Xhaka – 5
Xhaka was the culprit in gifting Wolves their opener and after a difficult first period in the match, slightly grew up to become somewhat relevant. The halftime change in the team’s shape gave him more freedom to roam down the left side and try to create some chances, although nothing came to fruition.
Alex Iwobi – 5.5
We might remember a lot of instances where Iwobi gave the ball away cheaply in good attacking positions, but he was the only attacking force with some intention to go forward in the first half. Was substituted in the second half for Guendouzi.
Mesut Ozil – 5
Ineffective could be the word to describe his performance against Wolves. Tried to make things happen, but Wolves had set themselves up tight defensively and Arsenal, through Ozil were unable to break them down.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 5
What a miss that was from Aubameyang. The striker has made it his game to be absent for most parts and then pop up to score crucial strikes, but when the opportunity was presented against Wolves he so dearly missed it.
Alexandre Lacazette – 5.5
Was an irrelevant member of an immaterial, stale attack. It’s not to say the Frenchman did not have his fair share of chances, all of which he missed. Arsenal need much more sharpness from their central striker if they need to get past teams like Wolves.
Substitutes
Matteo Guendouzzi – 6.5
If Arsenal did attack well in the second half, credit must go to Guendouzi from bringing in much-needed energy in the side when it lacked dearly.
Aaron Ramsey – 6.5
Like Guendouzi, Ramsey injected much-needed energy and creativity into the side, and all of a sudden one could see that Arsenal were getting closer to scoring the equaliser. He was slightly unlucky to not score from the chance he got for Patricio made a terrific save.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6.5
His relevance in the game only came from the equalizing goal he scored late on. However the goal wasn’t intentional, but a cross and even Patricio did not anticipate the cross on target.
