(Football news) A late own goal by Jose Sa in the fifth minute of stoppage time clinched a 2-1 victory for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and has reignited the race for the top four. The own goal came thanks to Alexandre Lacazette when his close range effort bounced off the Wolves goalkeeper and went into the back of the net. Earlier in the match, Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan scored the opening goal in the 10th minute after capitalising on an under hit back pass by Gabriel Magalhaes and rounded off Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale to score in an empty net. 

Wolves defended resolutely after the opening goal while the Gunners were quite wasteful with their opportunities. The likes of Conor Coady, Max Kilman and Romain Saiss were particularly impressive in denying Arsenal an opportunity to get back into the game. Bruno Lage’s team threatened the hosts at either side of the break but couldn’t extend their lead as Raul Jiminez’s header went wide and Hwang’s low shot wasn’t on target. Arsenal eventually grew into the match and began dominating proceedings but were left frustrated due to a lack of cutting edge with Alexandre Lacazette particularly wasteful. 

The hosts finally prevailed in the 82nd minute when substitute Nicolas Pepe combined with Eddie Nketiah to score the equaliser. The Ivorian fired past Jose Sa from Nketiah's cut-back to register his first Premier League goal of the season. Wolves substitute Pedro Neto had an opportunity to help his side regain the lead but he couldn’t hit the target from his low shot. With a draw seeming inevitable, it was Lacazette who redeemed himself as he forced the ball into the back of the net after eight unsuccessful attempts. The result means Arsenal are just one point behind fourth place Manchester United despite having played two games less.

Speaking after the match, Mikel Arteta told Amazon Prime “When you win the match after going 1-0 down, and you know what it means against Wolves, it is really difficult but we did it. A really important win for this. We don't know today how important this will be but we know the importance of winning our matches and certainly at home we know we have to be extremely good. At the end of May we want to be fighting for those places. After three defeats in the first three games we had to avoid relegation. That was the first thing we had to do. Then we took it game by game and didn't lose sight of the objective with the team. You just have to be consistent with your vision and the way you prepare and believe the result will come."

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