Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal (2020-21)

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Wolves v Arsenal (2020-21)

Wolves Arsenal 2 1
HT:1–1 Report
Event	Premier League 2020-21
Date	Tuesday 2 February 2021
Venue	Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton
Player of the Match	Rúben Neves
Referee	Craig Pawson
Attendance	0
Weather	10 °C (50 °F)
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Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal was a match which took place at Molineux Stadium on Tuesday 2 February 2021.

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.

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 £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.

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.

Match

Details

2 February 2021 18:00 GMT	Wolves	2–1	Arsenal	Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton Attendance: 0 Referee: Craig Pawson
	Moutinho  49' Neves  45+5' (pen.)	HT:1–1 Report	Pépé  32' David Luiz  45+3' Leno  72'

Wolves

Arsenal

11 Rui Patrício 22 Nélson Semedo 16 Conor Coady 15 Willy Boly 49 Max Kilman 08 Rúben Neves 74' 28 João Moutinho 37 Adama Traoré 10 Daniel Podence 62' 07 Pedro Neto 12 Willian José 90+1' Substitutes: 02 Ki-Jana Hoever 17 Fábio Silva 90+1' 18 Morgan Gibbs-White 20 Vitinha 62' 21 John Ruddy 32 Leander Dendoncker 74' 42 Lewis Richards 54 Owen Otasowie Manager: Nuno Espírito Santo

01 Bernd Leno  72' 02 Héctor Bellerín 16 Rob Holding 23 David Luiz  45+3' 17 Cédric Soares 18 Thomas Partey 74' 34 Granit Xhaka 07 Bukayo Saka 32 Emile Smith Rowe 19 Nicolas Pépé 61' 09 Alexandre Lacazette 45' Substitutes: 06 Gabriel 45' 08 Dani Ceballos 11 Martin Ødegaard 12 Willian 13 Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson 74' 14 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 61' 21 Calum Chambers 25 Mohamed Elneny 35 Gabriel Martinelli Manager: Mikel Arteta

Man of the Match: Rúben Neves Assistant referees: Daniel Cook Peter Kirkup Fourth official: David Coote

Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time or penalties. Three points awarded to winner, none to loser. One point awarded to each in the event of a draw. Nine named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions

Match Stats

• Match Stats

Overall	Wolves	Arsenal
Goals scored	2	1
Total shots	11	9
Shots on target	7	3
Ball possession	55%	45%
Corner kicks	9	6
Fouls committed	11	8

See also

• 2020-21 Premier League: Match day 22

External links

• Match report at BBC.co.uk
• Match report at Premier League.com

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