Arsenal narrowly beat Wolves at Molineux on Saturday afternoon, in a game which saw Mikel Arteta’s transfer target Matheus Cunha deliver a meek performance for the Old Gold.
Wolves were defeated 1-0 by Arsenal, courtesy of a wonderful half-volley from Riccardo Calafiori.
The Gunners were reduced to ten men when Myles Lewis-Skelly was dismissed for a late tackle on Matt Doherty.
The controversial nature of the sending-off meant the microscope was mostly on referee Michael Oliver, allowing Cunha’s drab outing to go under the radar in some corners.
Arsenal fans not impressed with Cunha’s display for Wolves
Cunha has been heavily linked with Arsenal in this window, as the Gunners look to recruit a forward to boost their chances of winning major silverware this season.
Thus, Saturday’s game presented Mikel Arteta with an opportunity to scout Cunha ahead of a potential deal.
The Spaniard certainly won’t have been impressed with what he saw, and neither were the Arsenal fans.
One fan posted statistical graphics of Cunha’s performance on X, whilst writing: “If this was his, ‘go on spend 70-80 million on me’ best I am not sure it convinced me. Not that one game should do that, but he looked like a good player, not a world-changer to me. Still would be in the 40-50m range for him, and no more.”
One supporter simply wrote, “Cunha isn’t good enough for Arsenal,” while another posited, “Cunha is not the answer to our striking problem.”
Another fan assessed Cunha’s outing differently, joking that the Brazilian purposefully underperformed to lower Wolves’ asking price.
They wrote: “Cunha delivering a stinker to lower his price tag for us is 4D chess. Welcome to Arsenal!”
Meanwhile, others adjudged this to be an accurate representation of Cunha’s ability, and that some fans had had excessive expectations of him.
One fan said: “Cunha has played like that plenty of times, he’s just under the microscope more now.”
Another added: “I was right about Cunha. He’s a good player but he isn’t a floor raiser. He would be a squad player at best in this Arsenal team. Players whose teams are in the bottom 10 are not good enough to help a team fighting for a title.”
Cunha’s statistics against Arsenal
The statistics back up Arsenal fans’ views on Cunha’s performance.
The 25-year-old managed four shots, although three of them were from long-range and none of them seriously tested David Raya.
| Cunha’s Statistics vs Arsenal | |
| Minutes Played | 90 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Shots | 4 |
| Chances Created | 1 |
| Accurate Passes | 39/45 (87%) |
| Touches in Opposition Box | 3 |
| Successful Dribbles | 2/7 (29%) |
He created just one chance throughout the 90 minutes, hardly found himself in the box and completed just two of his nine dribbles.
This was very much an off-day for Cunha, although it’s probably enough to put some fans off the potential signing.
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