THE 10 men of Arsenal overcame the 12, and then 11, of Wolves to keep their title challenge alive with a Riccardo Calafiori winner.
That is how it must feel for Mikel Arteta, his players, every Gooner and most unbiased observers after referee Michael Oliver made one of the worst decisions ever seen.
GettyRiccardo Calafiori sealed a dramatic win for 10-man Arsenal at Wolves[/caption]
PAMyles Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off but Wolves later went to 10 men too[/caption]
Oliver confirmed his status as Arsenal’s least favourite official when he sent off Myles Lewis-Skelly in the first half.
Against all common sense ,Oliver ruled the teenager’s cynical trip on Matt Doherty 30 yards from the Wolves goal to be violent conduct.
Somehow VAR let the call stand.
But Arteta’s team channelled their fury. And shortly after Oliver made it 10 v 10 by sending Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes off for a second yellow card, Calafiori scored what could turn out to be a vital goal.
The Italian had come on at half time to replace Lewis-Skelly at left back so it felt like justice of a sort that he turned the ball in neatly after Nelson Semedo’s poor header from a Gabriel Martinelli cross.
But the Arsenal fans who abused Oliver and accused him of making the game all about him will nor forget his latest intervention.
Oliver and Arsenal have history.
On this same ground in February 2022, the referee booked Gabriel Martinelli twice in quick succession for blocking a throw-in and then immediately committing a foul.
Then earlier in this campaign, he showed Leandro Trossard a second yellow card against Manchester City for kicking the ball away.
But this was arguably the worst decision of them all and could have proved so costly for the Gunners.
Arteta had enough problems anyway.
He welcomed back William Saliba and Ethan Nwaneri for their first starts since injury, but found himself without captain Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino.
The Spaniard had picked up an unspecified knock while Odegaard had been sent back to London because of illness after travelling to the West Midlands with the team.
Wolves started nervously at the back, almost presenting Arsenal with chances to score.
Yet it was the home side who threatened first.
Captain Nelson Semedo’s charge down the right and cross deserved better than Pablo Sarabia volleying the ball over the crossbar.
Lewis-Skelly was given a red just before half-time
The left-back blocked Matt Doherty despite Wolves breaking just outside their own penalty area
After that it was all Arsenal.
Leandro Trossard sent in tempting crosses for Kai Havertz twice. The German sent his first header wide but seemed to have got the second right, angling it back across Jose Sa.
But the Wolves goalkeeper kept the ball out with his right leg, probably more by luck than judgement.
Nwaneri wasted a good sight of goal from a free kick 20 yards out but little more happened until Oliver’s moment of madness.
As Wolves tried to break after a poor Declan Rice corner, Lewis-Skelly brought down Matt Doherty with a cynical trip about 30 yards out..
Yellow card, all day long.
PAArsenal were left totally miffed by the red card[/caption]
GettyMichael Oliver was not for turning despite Arsenal’s protests[/caption]
Not in Oliver’s world. Out came the red, and Arsenal went ballistic.
There was no way Lewis-Skelly had denied a goalscoring opportunity, even without taking into account it was Doherty who was fouled.
Yet the PGMOL’s explanation that the young Arsenal star wasa guilty of serious foul play was simply nonsense. The challenge was not high, nor was their excessive force or serious danger to Doherty.
VAR Darren England should have told Oliver to think again. But England was the man guilty of the worst error with the technology in Premier League history, when he and his team failed to correct an offside call against Liverpool’s Luis Diaz in the game against Tottenham in September 2023.
Jurrien Timber was booked for his protests and the away fans let Oliver know exactly what they thought of him. You could only have sympathy.
Arteta sent on Riccardo Calafiori for Nwaneri at half time to rebalance his team.
ReutersJoao Gomes ended up getting sent off 20 minutes from time[/caption]
PAThe ace was left with his head in his hands after the decision[/caption]
The Arsenal supporters were soon singing, “Michael Oliver, it’s all about you”.
Their team were equally defiant, pinning Wolves back after the break and Rice stung Sa’s hands with a rasping shot.
At the other end, Hwang Hee-Chan, who had replaced the injured Jorgen Strand Larsen in the first half, tested David Raya with an effort from distance.
Then Sarabia could only divert a cross wide. It became end to end stuff.
Havertz headed a Rice free kick over the bar, then Raya made an acrobatic stop from Matheus Cunha.
And from the resulting corner, alleged Arsenal target Cunha could only shoot wide when the ball fell to him just outside the six-yard box.
GettyCalafiori struck in the 74th minute for the visitors[/caption]
APIt proved to be the winning strike at Molineux[/caption]
Then things got interesting. Joao Gomes fouled Timber unnecessarily in the Arsenal penalty area and was shown a second yellow card. 10 v 10, Game very much on.
The inevitable soon happened.
Martinelli curled in a cross and Semedo’s header dropped to Calafiori, who turned it in on the half volley with the kind of poise you don’t expect from a defender.
The Arsenal players ran to celebrate with Arteta, his backroom team and the substitutes, all of them knowing how important a goal it was.
It felt like Wolves had blown their chance, and so it proved.
Rayan Ait-Nouri burst through on the break but Raya came out to make a decent save.
The Arsenal goalkeeper dealt easily with a Cunha effort.
And the Gunners pulled off an against-the-odds, against-the-referee victory that could yet inspire them to overhaul leaders Liverpool.
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