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Goals from Leandro Trossard and Martin Ødegaard gave Arsenal a gritty 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers that sent them back to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday after a game that otherwise won’t live long in the memory.
Arsenal lead on 74 points, one point ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand having beaten Chelsea 1-0 earlier on Saturday to reach the FA Cup final. Liverpool are in third place on 71 points, also with a match in hand on the Gunners.
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An early effort from Kai Havertz in the first minute suggested that fans were in for an exciting game, but the two sides quickly cancelled each other out as they struggled to create good goal-scoring opportunities.
The best of them fell to Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes on the half-hour mark as he went on a slashing run down the right before unleashing a powerful shot that David Raya palmed onto the near post to avert the danger.
Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Trossard broke the deadlock just before the break after a scrappy first half, Wolves defender Santiago Bueno steering the ball into his path while trying to dispossess Gabriel Jesus and the Belgian lashed it into the net off the right-hand post.
“I tried to get it on target and it went in super well. I’m pleased it went in. We really needed it,” Trossard said of his ninth league goal of the season, his best total in English football so far.
Knocked out of the Champions League in the last eight by Bayern Munich in midweek, Arsenal dominated the second half and Bukayo Saka might have added a second goal in stoppage time, but he blazed his effort high and wide and Declan Rice followed that up with a shot form the edge of the box that Wolves keeper Jose Sa did well to parry to safety.
Arsenal were not to be denied, and in the fifth minute of stoppage time Ødegaard latched onto a pass from Rice and then reacted quickest as his pull-back was blocked, slotting the ball home at the near post from a tight angle to secure the three points.
“Massive win for us, it was a tough week for us. I think a few tough results and hard emotionally, but we had to keep going,” Arsenal captain Ødegaard, whose side were surprisingly beaten by Aston Villa in their last Premier League outing, told Sky Sports.
“Today was all about bouncing back and getting the win and we did that, so I’m happy.”