Arsenal Squander Two-Goal Advantage in Costly Wolves Draw
Arsenals push for the Premier League title took a serious hit when they let slip a two-goal advantage and allowed a last-gasp leveller in a frustrating 2-2 stalemate away to bottom-placed Wolves on Wednesday.
Mikel Artetas team appeared poised to extend their lead at the summit to seven points following Bukayo Sakas quick opener and Piero Hincapie goal during the second half that had them dominating at Molineux.
However Arsenal unravelled towards the end with Hugo Bueno pulling one back before Riccardo Calafiori unfortunately deflected Tom Edozies effort into his own goal right at the death after confusion between shot-stopper David Raya and defender Gabriel Magalhaes left the away side stunned.
This marked the second straight league outing where the Gunners could not protect their lead after drawing 1-1 with Brentford the previous Thursday.
Not securing the win against the leagues basement dwellers proved a crushing disappointment for Arsenal who have only triumphed in two of their past seven top-flight fixtures breathing fresh life into the challenge from runners-up Manchester City.
City trail Arsenal by merely five points and possess an extra match to play alongside a fixture at home versus the Gunners come April.
After previously frittering away strong positions in earlier battles for the crown against City Artetas squad risks reliving those old nightmares.
Arsenal grew visibly edgy as time wore on facing Wolves underscoring how the frontrunners are buckling under the strain of chasing their initial English league crown since 2004.
Compounding Artetas worries Saka had to depart in the second period possibly nursing a knee problem.
If the England international who recently inked a fresh deal to become the teams top earner misses significant time it would deliver a severe setback to Arsenals championship aspirations.
With 17 points adrift of survival and just 11 matches remaining Wolves are all but doomed to drop down yet they can draw encouragement from their remarkable comeback.
Arsenal Stunned
Stepping into the number 10 role for Arsenal once more after impressing there versus Wigan over the weekend Saka needed only five minutes to demonstrate his ease operating beyond his typical right-wing spot.
Declan Rice delivered an exquisite cross towards Saka who arrived spot on to plant a diving header beyond Jose Sa from near range.
This strike ended Sakas longest barren spell at Arsenal spanning 15 outings across all tournaments since 3 December marking his first goal in that timeframe.
The Gunners most fluid spell in a patchy showing arrived early on with Rice clipping the post from distance while Noni Maduekes effort drew a solid stop from Sa.
Yet as biting sleet and snow swept over Molineux Arsenal nearly paid for complacency when Wolves midfielder Andre unleashed a powerful effort that whistled just past.
Wolves pressed once more straight after the interval with Adam Armstrong testing from afar.
Rattled by those close shaves Arsenal extended their cushion on the 56th minute.
Gabriel threaded a sharp pass to Hincapie who blasted into the top corner.
An initial offside call voided it but celebrations followed once VAR confirmed Hincapie had stayed on.
Just when Arsenal seemed headed for an easy win Bueno halved the gap with a brilliant finish the full-back bending into the upper corner from outside the box for his debut Premier League strike.
Arteta substituted Arsenals underperforming forward Viktor Gyokeres following a mere 11 touches without attempting a single shot.
Failing to seal the deal against Wolves the Gunners faced absurd punishment deep into added time.
Gabriel impeded Raya in gathering the ball and as it dropped to Edozie the young player smashed it against Calafiori for the own goal leaving Arteta incredulous.