Arsenal star must now be dropped

That was all far more dramatic than it needed to be for Arsenal.

The Gunners came into this game top of the Premier League and top of the Champions League. They have been the best team in the country.

By contrast, Wolverhampton Wanderers have been one of the worst sides we’ve seen in top-flight history. They had and still have two points to their name.

The match didn’t play out like that, however. Some might say this was the worst performance of the Mikel Arteta era to date.

Arsenal found life difficult and did look as though they were heading towards a 1-0 victory. Rob Edwards’ side stood firm and scored a dramatic last-gasp equaliser. Off they went, celebrating like crazy in front of the travelling support.

Yet, the Gunners had other ideas. Bukayo Saka grabbed the bull by the horns, swung in a delicious cross that was headed into the back of his own net by Yerson Mosquera with a matter of minutes left. Arsenal had secured a 2-1 win.

How Arsenal beat Wolves

The north Londoners have swept teams aside with relative ease this term.

Yet, in recent weeks, they have found things trickier. They drew with ten-man Chelsea, lost in the last minute to Aston Villa and then very nearly tripped up against the bottom team in the division on Saturday night.

Arsenal have been accused of looking leggy across that run but the team selected by Arteta this weekend should have had enough.

No disrespect to Wolves but Arsenal’s B team should have had enough to swat them aside. However, as the old saying goes, there is no easy game in the Premier League.

On this occasion, they had the mighty Saka to thank as he showcased why he is one of the best right wingers in the land.

Truth be told, Saka hasn’t been at his fluent best in 2025. His assist for Mikel Merino’s equaliser at Chelsea was his first league assist for a year.

That said, in recent weeks, he’s started to come alive and he delivered arguably his finest performance of 2025/26 to date.

It was Saka’s inswinging corner that led to the first goal. The ball came in, evaded everyone before it struck the post and came off Sam Johnstone before going in. It went down as an own goal.

Then, as Arsenal desperately craved a winner, Saka came up trumps again. He grabbed proceedings by the scruff of the neck and put his team back in the driver’s seat to win the title.

Saka’s cross was aimed at substitute Gabriel Jesus who got across Arokodare inside the area. Jesus didn’t get a touch but the Wolves defender did.

Arsenal had Saka and a brace of own goals to thank for their win. Plenty in red and white were way below par though.

Arsenal’s biggest underperformer against Wolves

On paper, this looked like a very dangerous Arsenal side.

Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres all started as a three-prong attack but while the former dazzled, the latter two struggled significantly.

Gyokeres, in particular, has had a difficult week since returning from injury. The Swede came off the bench a week ago but did very little to inspire the Gunners at Villa Park.

In midweek, the big-money summer arrival struggled again, taken off just after the hour mark having made just four passes. He barely had a sniff of goal.

Sadly, the same could be said of his display against Wolves this weekend. On this occasion, he completed just three passes and had fewer touches (15) than goalkeeper David Raya (30). It was hardly a surprise to see one Arsenal podcaster suggest that it looked like Arsenal are “playing with ten men” when Gyokeres leads the line.

While his hold-up play has improved to a degree, the hulking striker simply isn’t doing enough to influence play in the final third. His runs aren’t strong enough and that was evident in the first half.

Saka should have had another assist as the winger flashed in a low cross across the face of the goal. Gyokeres didn’t react quickly enough and couldn’t get on the end of it.

The former Sporting forward only ended up taking one shot, an effort he did well to fashion himself but he ultimately dragged the ball wide.

His performance was summarised brilliantly by Arsenal reporter Charles Watts who handed the attacker a 5/10 match rating, writing that ‘he couldn’t get into the game’ and that ‘Arsenal need more from him’. Sadly, that would appear to be an ongoing theme of his time at the Emirates to date.

For a man who scored 54 goals last season, it’s staggering that he doesn’t look likely to score. Arteta needed a striker who can score with regularity more than anything in the summer but on the evidence we’ve seen thus far, he is not good enough.

When Arsenal face Everton next week, the manager must choose either Merino or Jesus ahead of him instead.