Wolves boss Gary O’Neil explains what made Arsenal fans so ‘intimidating’ at the Emirates

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Arsenal secured victory in their Premier League opener against Wolves, although it was not the most comfortable win.

Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka in each half led Arsenal to a 2-0 win, but there were some sloppy moments which led to chances for the visiting side.

Arsenal eventually sealed the win and the clean sheet, but Wolves gave them a tough time, and it is not the first time a Gary O’Neil side has provided a difficult test for Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal beat Bournemouth 3-2 in 2023 after going 2-0 down, as O’Neil’s team gave them nightmares defensively, but they remained resolute to avoid a similar scenario against Wolves.

O’Neil has now praised his side for their performance and highlighted Arsenal’s quality, as well as the difficulty of playing at the Emirates.

Gary O’Neil says Arsenal fans were intimidating against Wolves

Speaking after the game, O’Neil was asked whether the Emirates Stadium had become a more difficult place to go in recent years.

“Yes, but I thought we managed that well,” he stated.

“Everybody knows that these Arsenal fans are smelling another title charge, and potentially their first title in a good few years.

“At that point, 1-0 down against a side as good as this, in an intimidating place, you would expect it to then continue to move in that direction, but we were able to put a big sort of stop to that, and spin the game in our own favour.

“Then you could feel the place get a little bit edgier, and I don’t think there would have been many Arsenal fans when they scored the first, that felt in the 60th minute or whatever we’d still be pushing and having chances to equalise, and we were, so we managed that very, very well.”

Gary O’Neil praises Wolves for performance against Arsenal

O’Neil also claimed that his side delivered the best performance at the Emirates out of any of his teams in the past.

“It is a tough place to come, it’s probably the best my teams played against an Arsenal team I think,” he added.

“In the times I played them, obviously twice last year with Wolves, played them once with Bournemouth, we went close here, but in terms of performance and what we got out of it, I thought it’s probably the most we’ve tested them.”

Arsenal did well to secure the win when not at their best against a Wolves side who gave a good account of themselves, and they will now hope that this win can provide a springboard for strong performances in the coming weeks.