Arsenal were made to battle against themselves and, they will feel, the referee in a hard-fought 1-0 win against Wolves on Saturday afternoon. Despite playing the entire second half with 10 men, Riccardo Calafiori’s brilliant second-half strike was enough to get a crucial three points.
With Liverpool cruising against Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest being well beaten by Bournemouth at the same time, Arsenal’s toll threatened to see them drop yet more points. Given the advantage that Liverpool already have in the title race, it was make or break at Molineux.
Reacting to Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial red card for a foul on Matt Doherty, Arsenal ironically had the man who replaced him to thank for scoring the decisive goal. Calafiori popped up from the bench to slam home on the edge of the box with a vital finish.
Whilst the result doesn’t change the picture right at the top – Liverpool remain six points clear with a game in hand, Arsenal moved ahead of Forest and extended the gap to the chasing top-four pack.
With a challenge to be crowned champions still looking hard, Arsenal are caught in a tough situation where they won’t want to be looking over their shoulder to secure Champions League football. For now, they ensured that Liverpool do have pressure heading into a massive run of games.
Arsenal next five Premier League fixtures
Manchester City (H) – Sunday, February 2
Leicester City (A) – Saturday, February 15
West Ham (H) – Saturday, February 22
Nottingham Forest (A) – Tuesday, February 25
Manchester United (A) – Sunday, March 9
