Arsenal are no strangers to going down to 10 men. It often precipitates the gifting of points to opponents.
Yet on this occasion, it stirred a resilient performance in the face of a matter out of their control, Myles Lewis-Skelly having received a ridiculous red card by referee Michael Oliver on the cusp of half-time for a foul on Matt Doherty.
Should they start training with 10 men, given their league-worst disciplinary record?
‘We don’t have time to train so the time we have, I expect to at least train with 11!’ boss Mikel Arteta laughed. ‘Unfortunately this season it has happened too many times, but it’s not something we talk about.’
Arsenal’s spirit in dealing with the Lewis-Skelly setback was all the more impressive. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they dug in.
Fans always claim their team is targeted, but Saturday’s decision was so bad that you can sympathise with a supporter who would think so.
It is no excuse for the threats which have since transpired though. Oliver had his home address leaked on social media and there were other abhorrent posts about him too.
Riccardo Calafiori scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal won against the odds
Sadly, such abuse is no longer a surprise, an expectation even. But 8,000 likes on one disgusting post? It is a damning reflection of how normalised such vitriol has become in society and must be addressed.
Referees’ body PGMOL said last night that police were aware and investigations had been launched.
In a managerial capacity, the game showed how much Arteta has grown. In his post-match TV interview, he said he was ‘fuming’ about the red card.
Fifteen minutes later, in his press conference, he had calmed to the point where he replied: ‘I think it’s obvious we don’t need any comments. Hopefully the right thing will happen after today.’
In November 2023, his rant after Anthony Gordon’s controversial winning goal
for Newcastle, which went through three separate VAR checks, led to Arsenal hiring a criminal defence lawyer to quash FA misconduct charges for calling the decision a ‘disgrace’ and ‘embarrassing’.
This incident at Wolves was much more far-fetched and will have required Arteta to bite his tongue. That he did so deserves an acknowledgment as many a manager would have struggled to keep their composure.
Wolves received an injection of belief with their one-man advantage as, with the game at 0-0, they sought a much-needed result following three consecutive league defeats.
Matheus Cunha’s strike from outside the box near the
hour mark was well saved by David Raya and the Brazilian should have scored from the resulting corner, only to fire the ball wide.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori, having lost his place to Lewis-Skelly of late following a muscular problem, snatched the winner with a well-taken finish. But, more broadly, it was the way the Gunners were able to grind out a victory in such tricky circumstances away from home that ticked a box.
Goals, a mean defence and three points are the typical barometers that title-chasing teams are judged by.
An ability to grind out results in the face of adversity is also a big part of the package.
Mikel Arteta’s side managed to respond well to another challenge in a tough season
Without this, a team will eventually come unstuck in a Premier League that is more competitive than ever, as has been seen by the unlikely progress of Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
Three points away to Wolves does not address Arsenal’s issues fully, having dropped
12 points from winning positions so far in this campaign, but it does illustrate a clear improvement on the first half of the season.
Back then, the Gunners would have found a way to either lose this encounter or walk away with just a point at best.
They will need the resilience demonstrated on Saturday going forward.
