Wolves 0-2 Arsenal
The warning signs started almost immediately for Arteta’s side as Jimenez turned on the halfway line and played an incredible looping pass to cut open their defence, with the lightening Traore charging down the middle reaching the ball, but the Spaniard was unable to lift it over the onrushing Emi Martinez. The Gunners gradually eased themselves into the game, creating their first real chance when Nketiah latched onto a misplaced header and struck the post after Rui Patricio got a strong hand to it. Then in the 43rd minute, Soares played a curling across field pass to Aubameyang who waited for Tierney on the overlap before releasing him down the line, allowing the Scotsman to cut it back to Saka who took his shot first time on the half volley as his accurate strike found the right-hand side of the goal. As a result, the away side went into half-time 0-1 up.
Without their fans in Molineux to get them firing, manager Nuno Espírito Santo had massive shoes to fill in order to get going in the second half. In the opening 25 minutes of the half, it appeared to be working with the home side dominating possession, pinning Arsenal back into their own third of the pitch, highlighting how much more organised they are off the ball under their new coach. The introduction of Jota caused a few problems for the Gunners as he was floating in front of the defence and picking up the ball in the pocket effectively, as he created their best chance of the game, feeding Traore through on goal however again the winger didn’t have the quality to lift it over Martinez. In the 86th minute, some nice link-up between substitutes Lacazette and Willock led to the second goal as the Englishman pulled the ball back from the right-hand side of the box only for Lacazette to elude his marker as his first touch was of the highest quality meaning he could fire past Patricio to secure the points for Arsenal.
Player Ratings
Emilio Martinez
In great form, looks very confident with his distribution. Can’t complain with the way he’s playing. 7.5/10
Cedric Soares
Very promising start for him, looked like he knew what his role in the side was. Attacked and defended well just needs some more game time. 7/10
Skhodran Mustafi
Looked much better in this game with Cedric next to him. Made some brilliant clearances and headers. 7/10
David Luiz
Commanding on the ball and made some nice blocks, decent display. 7/10
Sead Kolasinac
Man marked Traore the whole game and brought some much-needed physicality against him. Made some good tackles. 7/10
Kieran Tierney
Provided a much-needed outlet, showed his quality when in and around the box for the first goal as it was a great cross. 7.5/10
Granit Xhaka
As a team we look 10x better when he plays, brings leadership, range of passing and quality to the squad. 7/10
Dani Ceballos
That goal against Sheffield has really turned his form around with another good performance. Controlled the game at times and was always an option for a pass. 7/10
Bukayo Saka
Didn’t take his opportunity with both hands, struggled to get in the game but when he did it was positive. 6/10
Aubameyang
Had a quiet game as he didn’t really have any chances from his teammates. Tracked back well in the second half. 6.5/10
Eddie Nketiah
Unlucky to hit the post in the first half. Didn’t cause them many problems but worked his socks off. 6.5/10
Subs
Alexandre Lacazette
Scored a great goal after a sublime first touch, hopefully that will give him some more confidence going into the latter stages of the season. 8/10
Joe Willock
Drove the Team forward. Made a nice assist which killed the game off, should have scored as well. 7/10
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James Humphreys
Gunners Daily 