Arsenal narrowly beat Wolves at Molineux on Saturday afternoon in a feisty affair, marred by two controversial red cards.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was given his marching orders minutes before half-time for tripping Matt Doherty on the half-way line.
However, Michael Oliver levelled the playing field in the 70th minute when Joao Gomes was shown a second yellow card for a late foul on Jurrien Timber.
Arsenal found the breakthrough when Riccardo Calafiori expertly tucked home a half-volley after 74 minutes.
The result means the Gunners stay second in the league, six points adrift of league leaders Liverpool.
Five things you missed from Arsenal vs Wolves
While the scrappy nature of the game after the red card was obvious, there were several other things you might have missed.
Arsenal’s slow start
While the Gunners started to click into gear mid-way through the first half, they started very slowly.
Mikel Arteta’s team didn’t muster a single shot on goal until the 19th minute of the game when Kai Havertz headed narrowly wide from a Leandro Trossard cross.
The North Londoners lacked tempo in their passing in the opening 20 minutes, and while they negated Wolves well, were unable to sustain dangerous attacks.
Arsenal’s fluid midfield
Without Martin Odegaard, Arteta altered how his midfield was set up.
Typically a stringent three with the defensive midfielder sitting deep and the two eights advanced in the left and right half-spaces, Arteta opted to deploy more of a double pivot in this game.
Declan Rice was granted more freedom in midweek against Dinamo Zagreb, but was tasked with sitting deeper and alongside Thomas Partey for large periods of this game, to accommodate for Ethan Nwaneri.
While Nwaneri did naturally stray to the right, he was given the licence to roam in behind Havertz, essentially acting as a ten.
Meanwhile, Lewis-Skelly was regularly inverting into midfield whilst Arsenal were in possession.
This, inevitably, all went out the window after the red card.
Arsenal fans chants towards Michael Oliver
Arsenal fans were understandably frustrated by Michael Oliver’s decision to send Lewis-Skelly off shortly before the break.
Oliver’s appointment as referee for the game already caused frustration, and this was only heightened after the red card incident.
Fans were furious online, and this carried over into the Arsenal away end inside Molineux.
The Gunners faithful were chanting ‘Michael Oliver, it’s all about you’ throughout the second half.
Cunha’s absent performance
Matheus Cunha has been linked with Arsenal, and the Brazilian will certainly not have impressed with his performance against his potential future employers.
The Brazilian produced an abject display, failing to impact the game in any meaningful way.
Struggling to get on the ball in dangerous positions, Cunha wasted possession numerous times on the odd occasion that he did find himself near Arsenal’s box.
Riccardo Calafiori mirrored his celebration from goal vs Man City
Striding onto a loose ball excellently, Calafiori perfectly connected with a half-volley to give Arsenal the lead with 16 minutes to play.
This was the Italian’s second strike of the season, and he produced the same celebration that he brought out after scoring against Manchester City.
Manically racing towards the Arsenal bench, the left-back pounded the Gunners’ badge and hugged various teammates and coaches on the sidelines.
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