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There is a recurring nightmare that haunts every Arsenal fan who has lived through the heartbreak of near-misses, and on a wet Wednesday evening at Molineux, it came crawling back.
Arsenal squandered a two-goal lead to blow the title race wide open as Wolves snatched a 2-2 draw in stoppage-time at Molineux, not against a fellow contender, not against a team fighting for European football — but against the side anchored dead last in the Premier League table, a club that had won just once in 26 top-flight games all season.
This was the night the phrase “two-goal lead” became every Gooner’s least favourite phrase, and if Mikel Arteta’s side are to finally end their long wait for the Premier League title, they may need to look back on this painful, chaotic, absurd evening as the moment they found a way to stop the rot — or accept it as the beginning of the end, again.
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Arsenal started on the front foot, with Bukayo Saka scoring in the fifth minute, playing through the middle in an auxiliary number ten role, a tactical experiment Arteta had trialled against Wigan in the FA Cup. We Saka latched onto a precise, clipped cross from Declan Rice and guided a deft header between the legs of José Sá. It was Saka’s first goal in 15 games, a personal milestone that seemed to lift a weight from the entire team’s shoulders.
Arsenal were dominant. The league leaders barely had to lift a finger before they went ahead, a period of sustained pressure ended with Declan Rice putting a ball onto the head of Saka who nodded between the legs of José Sá from six yards. Sa produced a double save as he batted Noni Madueke’s initial effort into the path of Gabriel Martinelli. The Gunners were purring, rampant in those early exchanges, and Molineux was being silenced.
Piero Hincapie’s first goal for the club handed them a two-goal cushion 10 minutes after the restart, the Ecuadorian full-back finishing coolly to make it 2-0. At that moment, Arsenal were coasting toward a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, their title credentials seemingly reaffirmed. The match looked won. The destination of the trophy looked increasingly inevitable. Then came the collapse.
Hugo Bueno rallied a Wolves comeback with a terrific curling goal just five minutes later, before debutant Tom Edozie forced the Calafiori own goal in the 94th minute to rescue a point. The Spanish left-back, given acres of space by an Arsenal side that had inexplicably switched off, cut inside from the left and curled a venomous effort into the far corner, his first Premier League goal, scored in the most dramatic of circumstances, in front of a suddenly euphoric Molineux.
Arsenal visibly retreated, rather than pushing for a third goal to kill the game, they sat back, inviting pressure and allowing Wolves; the bottom club, desperate and with nothing to lose, to build momentum. It is a pattern that has become deeply concerning.
Then came the gut punch. A cross into the area saw some miscommunication between Gabriel and Raya, and the keeper inadvertently punched out to Edozie, who sent a shot goalwards. It struck the post before hitting Calafiori on the line, and agonisingly for Arsenal, it crept in. Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori, who had been on the pitch for barely seconds after replacing the injured Leandro Trossard, became the unwitting villain in the cruellest of finales. Molineux erupted. Arteta stared into the middle distance. Two points had evaporated into the cold night air.
It is the first time in Premier League history a team top of the table has let a two-goal lead slip against a team in the relegation zone, that damning, unprecedented statistic says everything about the scale of this failure.
The statistics from the night tell one story: Arsenal dominated possession with 58% to Wolves’ 42%. The Gunners recorded 10 total shots (4 on target), significantly higher than Wolves’ 5 total shots (2 on target). Dominance on paper, implosion in reality.
What is most alarming is not the result itself but the manner in which Arsenal repeatedly allow games to slip away once they sense victory. Steve Nicol, speaking after the match, captured the sentiment perfectly, noting that Arsenal’s defending has gone from their greatest strength to their biggest weakness. The defensive unit that was once the bedrock of this team’s title challenge now looks fragile, uncertain and prone to catastrophic lapses in concentration at the worst possible moments.
Viktor Gyokeres continued to divide opinion in his number nine role. After only six goals in 19 appearances, and given his contribution in general play is modest, the jury is still out.
Arsenal’s striker conundrum remains unresolved, with Kai Havertz nursing yet another setback and Martin Odegaard only recently returning to fitness. The creative engine that powered them for years has sputtered at precisely the wrong time in the season.
The injury situation adds another layer of concern. Ben White, who had returned to the side, came off with a muscular problem during the game — another blow for a squad already depleted by the absences of Mikel Merino and, intermittently, Odegaard. Wolves’ Tom Edozie, 19, came off the bench to score a dramatic 94th-minute equaliser, marking a dream debut and earning the hosts a deserved point following a determined second-half display. Arsenal were undone by a teenager making his Premier League debut. That says everything.
Arsenal have now dropped 11 points in their last seven Premier League games, and it will become increasingly difficult for the Gunners to not think, “Oh, no, it’s happening again.” Their lead over Manchester City now sits at five points, but City have a game in hand. The psychological pressure of that is enormous.
City are in ominous form, just ten days ago, Erling Haaland scored a dramatic late penalty to secure a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory for Manchester City over Liverpool to boost his side’s Premier League title hopes. That result at Anfield; City’s first win there in front of fans since 2003, demonstrated exactly the kind of mental fortitude that Arsenal have been struggling to replicate. Where Arsenal crumble, City grind. Where Arsenal let leads slip, City snatch points from the jaws of defeat.
Arsenal still sit on 58 points from 31 games.
Manchester City, on 53 points with a game in hand, are breathing heavily on their necks. Manchester City now have a game in hand and with Arteta’s team still to travel to the Etihad Stadium this season, this could yet be seen as a major turning point in the Premier League title race, that trip to the Etihad looms like a date with destiny — and if Arsenal continue to show this kind of defensive fragility and mental vulnerability, Guardiola’s side will fancy their chances of turning the table on their rivals when that game arrives.
The fixture list ahead does Arsenal no favours either. The north London derby at Tottenham arrives on Sunday — a hostile, pressure-packed environment where Spurs, under new manager Igor Tudor, will be desperate to inflict damage, then comes Chelsea at the Emirates and a trip to Brighton. These are not matches against bottom-half sides. Every point from here on feels like it carries the weight of the entire season.
The contrast between Arsenal and their rivals in high-pressure moments right now is stark. Manchester City’s comeback at Anfield showed the resilience of a team that has won multiple titles under Guardiola. They know how to suffer, how to stay calm, and how to strike when it matters most, when they were behind against Liverpool, they did not retreat. They pressed higher and punished their hosts.
Arsenal, by contrast, have demonstrated a troubling pattern of sitting on leads and inviting danger. When Wolves pulled it back to 2-1 through Hugo Bueno’s curler, the intelligent response was to push for a third, to suffocate the hosts and bury the tie. Instead, Arsenal dropped ten yards deep, handed the initiative to the bottom club, and allowed chaos to consume them.
Liverpool, despite sitting sixth in the table and out of the title race, have shown similarly relentless forward intent — always pressing, always believing a third or fourth goal is possible. That attacking hunger is something Arsenal under Arteta have often displayed in bursts but have struggled to maintain consistently across 90 minutes when the pressure mounts.
The truth is that dropping points to Brentford last week and now drawing with the bottom side in back-to-back games represents the kind of form that loses title races. Arsenal’s injury crisis is real and is contributing to their instability, but Liverpool last season showed that title-winning teams grind through adversity. They find different heroes in difficult moments. So far this season, Arsenal have found different disasters instead.
There is enough time, enough quality, and enough motivation in this Arsenal squad to still lift the Premier League trophy in May. They remain top of the table, and five points is a meaningful cushion. Arteta has shown throughout this campaign that his team can produce excellent football and earn big results. Saka, even in this moment of collective difficulty, still found the net tonight after a 15-game drought.
But the worry lines are deepening. Arsenal, now with just two wins in their last seven Premier League games, show further signs of weakness. Champions do not collapse against relegated sides. Champions do not watch two-goal leads dissolve at Molineux on a February Wednesday. Champions hold firm.
The north London derby on Sunday becomes not just a matter of local pride but a statement of intent — a moment where Arsenal must prove that tonight’s capitulation was an aberration and not a symptom of a deeper psychological fragility that has cursed this talented generation of players.
One poor result can be forgiven. A pattern cannot.
For Wolves, meanwhile, the point is a remarkable moment in what has been a bleak campaign, and young Tom Edozie will dine out on this story for the rest of his career. But Arsenal cannot afford to let lower table sides write the headlines in their story right now.
The title race is alive, ferocious, and unforgiving, and tonight, at a rain-soaked Molineux, the ghost of Arsenal’s near-misses past crept back through the door, whether Arteta and his players can slam it shut again will define their entire season.
