Arsenal vs Wolves LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the action as the top-four rivals met at the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal staged a dramatic late comeback to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 on Thursday with Nicolas Pepe and Alexander Lacazette scoring the goals to boost their hopes of securing a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Wolves, who began the evening one place behind Arsenal, looked to move into fifth spot as they defended tenaciously to preserve the early lead given to them by Hwang Hee-Chan.
But the home side’s often desperate pressure was finally rewarded in the 82nd minute when Pepe turned well in the box and fired a shot past Wolves keeper Jose Sa.
In a frantic finale, Pedro Neto shot agonisingly wide for Wolves and Martin Odegaard went close for Arsenal before Lacazette scored from close range in the fifth minute of stoppage time to send the home crowd wild.
The win lifted Arsenal into fifth place with 45 points, one behind Manchester United but having played two fewer games.
Relive all the action from the Emirates Stadium below.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Premier League standings
Tonight’s match between Arsenal and Wolves is a clash in the race of a Champions League spot. Arsenal (6th) are four points off fourth place and have three games in hand on West Ham (5th) and Manchester United (4th).
Wolves (7th) sit just behind the Gunners and trail them by two points. If the visitors are triumphant at the Emirates this evening they will move ahead of Arsenal and will still have a game in hand on the two teams immediately above them.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Recent results
Arsenal have lost just once in eight Premier League matches and that defeat came against Manchester City on the 1st January. Since the turn of the year the Gunners have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Liverpool and the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest, but they are unbeaten in three league games and have won their last two fixtures including a 1-0 victory over Wolves at Molineux a fortnight ago.
Wolves have won six of their last eight league games only dropping points in a 0-0 draw with Chelsea and a 1-0 defeat at home to Arsenal two weeks ago. Norwich City knocked them out of the FA Cup in the fourth round but Bruno Lage’s men are storming towards a European spot and sit one place behind tonight’s opponents in the table.
Arsenal vs Wolves: Injuries and absentees
Gabriel Martinelli is available for Arsenal again after missing the game against Brentford due to a red card in the reverse fixture against Wolves two weeks ago.
Takehiro Tomiyasu could return to the starting XI after recovering from injury to feature as a substitute against Brentford.
Will Boly and Yerson Mosquera have both returned to full training for Wolves and could play a part if they are up to match fitness.
Arsenal host Wolves in Premier League
Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage as Arsenal host Wolves in the Premier League this evening.
It is the second time these two sides have met in the space of a fortnight after Arsenal shook off concerns over their lack of firepower with a gruelling 1-0 win at Molineux.
Gabriel Magalhaes had given Arsenal an early ascendancy before Gabriel Martinelli was controversially sent off in the second half. However, despite spending the rest of the match under near-constant siege, the Gunners held on to all three points and put themselves in prime position to snatch a top-four spot.
Wolves have recovered admirably themselves since then, though, with victories over Tottenham and Leicester ensuring Bruno Lage’s side are far from out of the European race.
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