Arsenal squandered a two-goal lead against last-placed Wolverhampton on Wednesday, giving a major boost to Manchester City in the race for the English Premier League title. The league leaders surprisingly drew 2-2 with host Molineux, after taking a 2-0 lead in the second half. Teenager Tom Edozie scored in the fourth minute of extra time to complete Wolves’ comeback.
“There was a big difference in the way we played in the first half and in the second half. We dropped our standards and were punished for that,” Arsenal striker Bukayo Saka told the BBC.
The draw means Arsenal have dropped points in two successive matches and leave them just five points ahead of second-placed City, having played a game more.
With the top two teams competing at City’s Etihad Stadium, the title race is very close.
“(It’s time) to focus on ourselves, improve our standards and improve our performance, and this is within our control,” Saka said.
Arsenal have led the way for the majority of the season and one bookmaker has pushed Mikel Arteta’s side to the title after opening up a nine-point lead earlier this month.
But Wednesday’s result was the latest sign the team is feeling the pressure, having finished second in each of the past three seasons. They have won just two of their last seven league matches.
After throwing away the lead against Brentford last week, it has been worse for a Wolves side who have won just one game all season.
Victory appeared assured after Saka gave Arsenal the lead with a header in the fifth minute and then Piero Hincapie ran in to score the second goal in the 56th minute.
But Wolves’ attack began with Hugo Bueno’s shot into the top corner in the 61st minute.
The 19-year-old Edozie was sent on as an 84th-minute substitute, and his effort earned the home side just a 10th point in a season that looked set to end in relegation. Although it did not do much for Wolves’ survival chances, it may have had a significant impact on their top spot.
“I’m incredibly disappointed because we wasted two points,” Arteta said. “I think we need to blame ourselves and give credit to Wolves. But what we did in the second half was nowhere near our standards of how we have to play in order to win a Premier League match.”
“When you don’t perform you can get punished, we were punished and we have to accept the hits because that can happen when you are at the top.”
Arsenal plays Tottenham on Sunday. The gap could be reduced to two points before it starts if City beats Newcastle on Saturday.
