Wolves forward Diogo Jota celebrates after scoring against Man United. (Getty Images)
Arsenal stumbled once again in their pursuit of a top-four finish, as Wolves pulled off another major upset against a top-six side at Molineux to bag all three points with an emphatic 3-1 victory over the Gunners.
Wolves had only 29% of the possession throughout the ninety minutes but that was enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side to outclass Arsenal on their home turf and reclaim the 7th spot in the Premier League standings.
The hosts strengthened their chances of securing the Europa League qualification spot, leapfrogging Leicester City in the standings, while Arsenal suffered their second defeat on a trot in the Premier League after a 3-2 humbling at the hands of Crystal Palace at home on Sunday.
Arsenal played reasonably well for the first twenty minutes or so, though it was Wolves who had the first real chance of the game. Ruben Neves initiated a brilliant move from deep inside his own half but Joao Moutinho fired his shot agonisingly wide of the post following a slick exchange of passes.
Neves, though, got his name on the scoresheet in the 28th minute, finding the corner of Bernd Leno’s net from a free-kick just outside the box. The Portuguese international put Wolves in the driver’s seat with his fourth goal of the season, showing exactly why he is held in such high regard by the Molineux faithful.
There was no looking back for Wolves after the opening goal, as the hosts put an unimpressive, lacklustre and listless Arsenal to the sword in the first half, with Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota both finding the net to ensure that Nuno Santo’s side went into the interval three goals to the good.
Arsenal dictated the play in the second half as well, but the Gunners lacked the incisive edge to their attack in the final third and gave the ball away far too easily at times, as Wolves put up another fantastic team performance to frustrate Unai Emery’s men.
Despite having 71% of the possession throughout the ninety minutes and registering a mammoth 690 passes with an accuracy percentage of 88, Arsenal managed to get only one shot away on target. The lack of creativity on display was ridiculous and Emery could just watch on helplessly from his technical area.
Wolves, on the other hand, played a meagre 285 passes with an accuracy percentage of 74 but that was evidently enough to make Arsenal pay for their shambolic defending. They deserve all the credit for playing well together as a team but one man who stood out in that 3-1 victory was Portuguese international Diogo Jota.
While Neves and Doherty also made a massive impact on the night, Jota was instrumental in tearing the Arsenal defence to pieces with his lightning pace, power, stamina and uncompromised work-rate.
The 22-year-old showed good awareness to capitalise on Arsenal’s sloppiness in the midfield and made a mockery to Sokratis at the back with his clever change of gears to score the third goal in the second half.
Jota registered his 8th goal of the Premier League campaign this term to virtually seal the game for Wolves but it was his overall contribution to the team, both in terms of build-up play and defending, that underlined once again what a gem Nuno Santo has transformed him into.
The 22-year-old covered every blade of grass on the pitch and pressed the opposition relentlessly to deny Arsenal the time to pick out the correct passes in the midfield.
While Mesut Ozil looked rather pedestrian in a No.10 role for Arsenal, Jota was everywhere for Wolves- taking on the defenders, beating them for pace and creating that extra yard of space to work with.
He could have added a fourth goal had he managed to get a good enough connection on Raul Jimenez’s cross from the right. The Portuguese star combined well with Jonny to set up Jimenez in the dying stages of the game but the Mexican made a has of that chance.
Jota won an impressive 10 out of his attempted 16 duels throughout the ninety minutes, while also registering 3 successful dribbles and 1 successful long pass. He completed a total of 23 passes at an accuracy rate of 78.3 and also chipped in with 4 tackles. Furthermore, Jota gave the Arsenal defenders a nightmare, earning 3 fouls in the game.
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It was Jota’s aggressiveness and his display of pace, power and intent that played a key role in Wolves’ giant-killing heroics at Molineux.