Well, what a game!
Going a goal down right at the start of the match gave us a mountain to climb against an in-form Wolves who had not lost after taking the lead for an incredible 44 games.
With ten minutes to go it looked like Wolves were going to get their revenge after all, but amazingly Pepe scored with a brilliant turn, and right at the death Lacazette had his shot turned into the goal by the keeper. Boy did we celebrate!
Our joy may have been exaggerated after Ruben Neves spoke about us celebrating too much at Molineux, but there was no pretending that the players deserved to show joy and celebrate after our last gasp winner. As Arteta told Arsenal.com after the game: “Well it was a great one.”
“Winning at the end against a really good team, who – once they are ahead – are extremely difficult to beat them. I think they haven’t lost a game after going ahead since 2018, but we kept pushing. I think the attitude, the spirit, the quality the energy that the players put in, in the second-half again. To fight, to go and win the match was phenomenal. It created a great atmosphere and synergy with our fans, and it was great to win it that way.
“And I encouraged them to celebrate every victory. Because you can tell how difficult it is in this game to win football matches. Our supporters are the same, every time we win we should celebrate because when you lose or draw you know the faces are always (sad).”
It was a finish worthy of a Cup Final and we all celebrated like we had won the Cup! And so we should. It was three precious points taking us closer to the Champions League next season. And with Wolves playing at West Ham next, our win was a great blow to Bruno Lage’s hopes of Europe next year.
What’s not to celebrate!
It’s worth celebrating
Looking at the table we have only lost to teams above us except Everton and Brentford, we have least draw (3) same as city.
This shows the coach is building a team with good mentality, in big games we have been the architect of our falls due lack of experience and mental frail, these are attributed to a young squad, no wonder we had 4 red card in those losses
I have missed celebrating with last minute winning goals. last night felt special.
its been a long to coming and usually we have been the team on the receiving end and then having to walk away feeling totally down and dejected. Do we remember how we all felt after when City game when they done us at the beginning of this year.
understand it was only 3 points but boy it was a big 3 points for us and most importantly it sent a message to the teams around us that the young guns wont crumble easily under pressure. WE ARE STILL IN IT!
no proper CF (apologise Lacca) and still we hit the back of the net twice in the last 2 games.
a long way to go until the end of the season but for now our dreams are still firmly burning brightly
onwards and upwards
I believe we are celebrating each Cup final we play which are our qualifying games for UCL next season. If Ruben Neves knew this 2weeks ago, he would have known peace.
The supporters at Emirates kept chanting, even though the team were behind. They were amazing and the players’/ manager’s interactions with the fans when leaving the stadium were great
Love it 🙂
Oh boy did i celebrate
We have become a football team again, winning all sorts of games. Two wins in two weeks against one of the meanest defences in Europe this season, love it. We are still lacking something, but we have an exciting young squad with an interesting potential. COYG!
Seriously i believe d boys needs to go through all this hardship sometimes becos it’s preparing them nd makin dem ready to b champions. Believe me this team is become one hell of a fearful team in Europe. Just some key more signing in d summer 2 stker, 2 mid, a right back competitor for Tomi nd i think we re ready to go. If we can successfully strengthen our squad then Top will b sure nd d league in d upper season
After 3 games 0 goals 0 points and 9 goals against. Rock bottom.
Yet that’s when I saw in Arteta the steely resolve.
His demeanour said “I believe in myself”.
That’s when I decided this is the man to take us forward and I said we can make top 5/6 even 4th is possible. Draws with Brighton and Palace did not deter me nor losses to United and Everton. A bad January out of the cups, a last minute loss to City and a draw with Burnley. Sacking the captain, restoring Xhaka no one came in during the transfer window. Yet I never waivered in my belief because I know Areta never doubts himself or the team he selects. Now while top 4 is the hope I keep to my summer prediction that 5th/6th is still the most likely outcome for Arsenal
fairfan
i have always said we would take the 4th spot but you are better man then me as at times my faith in MA has waivered.
for all the questionable decisions he has made over the season (understand he is still learning on the job) he has made some really good decisions too.
the 2 subs last night were spot on. personally i thought Lacca was done and should have come off but what do i know. He goes and creates the goal.
Hope Xhaka receives some respect and fan support now. He is going to get some cards no doubt but he is required in the team at least against certain teams and probably as a leader in dressing room? That is why every manager has kept faith in him and he is captain of his national team. Team does better in positive atmosphere.
We are stuck with Xhaka for this season and he is doing OK
Even getting in to the box more often but feels like a duck out of water when he gets in to the 18 yard box.
I think we are all waiting for a heads gone moment from him at any time
Great win and great performance from all the boys ,even gabriel picked himself back up from his early minutes blushes and performed admirably for the entire duration. There is a player who has been immense in the last few games and that is centric soares. Boy he has deputised perfectly for Tommy in these past weeks and no one seem to be talking about him.I feel he even contributes more to the attack that Tommy does and he defends well too.Great team we have at the moment. The second or third best defence in the league since our new backline started playing together, a decent midfield and a very good attacking force which is just one top drawer striker short of being one of the best in England or Europe at large.Great days ahead.
COYG.
Yeah, Gabriel will learn from it for sure (Next time just boot it out of play). Saying that, I thought White should/could have done more to get back and block. Hel looked like he had a freeze moment!
White wasn’t expecting gabriel to goof with a pass while under the slightest of pressure.Like you rightly said,I hope he learns from that.He has been nothing short of brilliant thus season up till that moment and I feel he got a bit overconfident and careless.
Celebrate we must. It was a hard fought win, full of grit and determination. The lads did not give up till the end and kept fighting. 3 precious points taking us ever close to the coveted CL places. OT, my heart goes out to all the Ukranians in Ukraine and pray to God for their safety and security. There are more important things in life than football and I hope this trauma ends soon, sense and reasoning prevails and peace and normalcy returns asap.
Ukrainians… here, here!
Gunner for life, a reminder that there are things much more important than the frivolity of football. The free world needs to support the Ukrainian people in their struggle against despot Putin’s aggression. Ukraine will be no pushover and hopefully reason prevails before Ukraine becomes Russia’s Viet Nam, without the death toll.
Unfortunately Xi and China are sitting in the wings waiting to see the reaction of the free world.
As to why people always try to drag their political views onto a football site when there are plenty of news sites out there is beyond me..
Not to worry Ozziegunner, Mark02’s views are probably similar to the Chelski fans who would like to ignore the connection between their sugar daddy and what is happening in the real world.
👍 Sanctions may hurt Chelsea’s ownership.
What a FANTASTIC sight to see so much passion from the squad! Not seen that kind of passion for a long time and it’s plain to see how much it means.
A massive shout out though to Pepe who score one and assisted the second. Would love to see more from him on a regular basis but maybe he is our super sub? Still, at £72m I doubt he can stay on the bench for such long periods.
I doubted we would score last night and hold my hands up. I was wrong. Glad I was though! GOYG!!!
This is fun!
To take 6 points from Wolves at this time of the season given the form they have been in is remarkable
Good performance from everyone again, good to see Pepe and Eddie get the opportunity to make an active contribution
Did Xhaka play at little higher again?
Cedric in on merit at the moment
I like the way White goes about his business, quietly and efficiently
Laca must be on his last Duracell now but what a shift and yes, of course the winner was his goal
Possibly the best thing for me was the way we played when we were up against it, chasing an important match at home against a team that has a great defensive record this season and we kept trying to play football in and around the box Pepe was instrumental and ultimately successful with that but I thought it was Ode’s influence all night
Dare I say a bit Wenger like in that respect
Well spotted,yes Xhaka did play a little bit higher than usual.
First accurate analysis I’ve seen on here so far.spot on mate.
It was an awesome win. Really enjoyed it. However, as Ian Wright pointed out, Arsenal were very wasteful with the chances, and probably could have won that game easily had the finishing been more clinical. As much as I like Lacazette, he looks a bit slow and off the pace to me. I want to see more of Pepe too. What a fantastic goal from him. I think he still has plenty more to offer.
I said the day before the game that Lacs might need a bit of rest.
As well Saka is the one who needs a rest in my view.
I couldn’t agree more,he does seem jaded or tired at times. I think he deserves some time off to recharge plus this might be a time to bring in Pepe to start competing for the right wing position just like Gabby and esr for the left wing .Healthy competition is great a team and I think it’s great we’ve got that going at the moment for all positions apart from striker position and a little lesser in the midfield
I agree.
That’s the thing,with our squad it is difficult to give several players a rest.i agree Saka could do with a breather too especially at his age which we tend to forget sometimes.
They are getting their rest now guys, courtesy of Liverpool being in the Carabao Cup Final instead of us!
Laca’s all in every game so he is always going to look like that to be fair and I think he will carry on starting in that position unless he picks up an injury
I don’t see that with Saka to be honest, I think teams now double up on him and he gets a bit of treatment from the opposition, which is possibly why he can look effective when he switches to the left during games, but again unless injured first on the team sheet fore me
Solid squad now though so not concerned with replacements in any position at the moment
Good win..3 points…now we can target 4th place…I think Arsenal can beat most teams in the EPL so our ambition shouldn’t be 6th place anymore…..the higher you aim the higher you will reach….was happy with the subs…nice to see that from Arteta..it gives me more confidence in him again
If one thing,last night showed how important having good subs is.
At first I was so nervous and hoping that the players put more pressure on wolves, wolves had a good game, but at the end we came out on top. It was a very top top jubilation for my last night. Arsenal in my veins till infinity COYG👊🏽
Arteta deserves his credits. We don’t know what we have until we loose it. Slowly we shall become a force again.
Me
Lots of joyful Gooners posts and understandably. I have several thoughts about the Wolves game and our club, not all linked together.
Firstly, I thought LACA worked extremely hard, as ever, but he is far too slow and lacks power all round. Yes, he made the winning goal with that cross that was deflected into his own net by SA.
But IMO, Laca is in no way a striker any more and he lacks almost everything except effort, which he has in spades but that is not enough , not anywhere near enough, IMO.
I would far prefer Pepe to play as central striker, as he has speed, trickery and an eye for goal. LACA HAS NONE OF THESE AND IS INEFFECTIVE.
I hugely like the massive squad team spirit and all round effort that at long last, after being patchy or missing altogether for many years pre MA, is now back and plays so VITAL a part in any success for any team.
No team without such togetherness works well and MAN UTD are the best example of a team of stars but no cohesion and a distinct lack of effort and they will not, IMO, make top four , despite having easily the best squad of all the fourth place chasing clubs, BUT ONLY ON PAPER.
I believe that we and MAN UTD are NOW, the only two PRIME candidates for fourth but that our team togetherness and will to win will overcome their superior, ON PAPER, squad.
ON TALK SPORT TODAY, BOTH OUR OWN KEOWN AND SIMON JORDAN BOTH FAVOUR UNITED TO GET FOURTH, I SAY THEY ARE LIKELY TO BE WRONG.
Next, I can now claimthat I am firmly among the most pro MA Gooners of all on JA. I saw his immense potential from his start but like so many others had huge doubts about themany mistakes he made and will still make but they will be fewer and fewer IMO.
He has now learned thr job and proved himself He is NOT, an elite manager like Klopp Pep and that ilk, of course not!
But he will, in my firm view, be our manager for many years to come and to my mind that is obvious. Kroenke will give him a contract extension this summer I believe and I will applaud that when it happens.
I reject utterly as nonsense the stance of such as Reggie, Dan Kit and their sad ilk who have never even tried to see anything positive whatsoever in MA and have spewed their poisonous venom against him almost daily.
I rejoice that that sad ilk will be lefty with very eggy faces, increasingly as the years pass and I hope , though vainly, that eventually even those silly sort will be forced to change their stance.
But, as I have learned in my long life, there are none so blind as those who have eyes that work but will not use them to see what other sighted folk can easily see!
😁😆 you’re so hilarious
Jon you wanted him out twice before and most of us on here remember you saying it! And can’t you just enjoy the moment rather than trying to provoke an argument! Mikel Arteta has proved nothing other than his team collecting another 3 points, but I’m sure as you put it… Dan kit, Reggie and their sad ilk will surely praise the magician if he manages to guide the team to 4th place.
Actually KEV, the TRUTH is that on one occasion, not twice, I said I’d be content if MA left. That was last season and this last summer has transfomed our club.
I also said that Reggie, DK and co will be unlikely to ever change their sad stance on MA, though I hoped they would eventually I actually wrote that I hoped “but vainly!”
I DO PREFER TRUTH TO LIES WHEN YOU QUOTE ME ANOTHER TIME KEV!
If someone’s ugly, it would be true to call them ugly, but the truth isn’t sufficient justification to say a thing. You’re old and wise enough to know this by now. There is absolutely no need to pick/continue fights. Please, and I am only asking politely, keep the vitriol to private channels so the rest of us don’t have to be affected.
As everyone knows I am hugely critical of Mikel Arteta, his management style just doesn’t frill me and I’m sure many others feel exactly the same but If and that’s still a big *if* he qualifies for champions league football next season I will happily admit I was wrong, I obviously can’t speak for everyone but I’m sure the majority of Arteta’s critics will do also. We all want the same thing Jon, for the club to evolve and be successful, and for me personally I’m almost never critical when we win, admittedly there is fans who find fault in victory, you can’t please everyone.
Imo Laca is providing an incredible example of how to apply yourself when off form. He’s working like a madman and even if he’s not showing quality (which is frustrating to watch), he’s making things happen, he’s getting assists, “pre-assists” and forcing own goals, even when it’s not going his way. We’re picking up points because of him, to me, it’s quite amazing and he is 100% leading by example.
While he’s doing this, he can’t be dropped. Agree pepe is a better finisher and dribbler, but there’s a lot more to playing the lone central striker than that – I’m intrigued to receive he could do it, but not while we have lacazette contributing so much.
I agree. I am hoping that the good bounce will spur him on. He could not buy a break or get a bounce for quite some time. Maybe this gives his confidence a boost and he will properly finish some of those seemingly easy chances.
And he works like a dog, so far it has been everything except finishing. Plus we don’t have a lot of options.
Wonderful reading John 😍
This is the first big league game that we have won in a long time. I know all games are important but this was a 6-point game with a direct rival when the points really counted and we pulled it off.
The fact that we dug down and did this was even more.
Arteta’s biggest test continues to be his pigheaded under utilisation of Nicholas Pepe this season, given his goal scoring and assist record last season and performances for Ivory Coast at Afcon. Pepe can turn a half chance into a goal, something missing from other Arsenal forwards.
Agree Ozzie, i really dont get it.
I think what Arteta could do is bring on Pepe early if we are not scoring or require goals desperately. That said, I find it extremely difficult for MA to replace Laca at this stage and start with Pepe as CF, the simple reason being, although Laca doesnt score consistently, the mans effort and link up play just cannot be replaced by any other attacker. So Laca starts all games, unless injured or tired and the best scenario for Pepe is he comes on as an early sub or starts on the wings. Peps goal scoring and assists stats are great and MA should find a way to include him as much as possible in games.