For a side that have spent the season mostly dictating matches, Arsenal needed every bit of luck going to escape with three points against a Wolves team on course for one of the worst campaigns in Premier League history.
A 94th minute own goal from Yerson Mosquera dragged them over the line, masking a performance that was wasteful and sloppy.
Wolves arrived at the Emirates with just two points from 15 games, yet Arsenal struggled to create clear chances against the division’s leakiest defence.
Their breakthrough in the 69th minute came via a set-piece, a corner whipped in by Bukayo Saka that left Sam Johnstone in the Wolves goal flapping. The ball bounced off the bar, hit the back of the keeper and Arsenal had finally found a way to get the ball into the net.
Even then, Arsenal failed to impose any sort of control and, as the game headed towards the 90th minute, it seemed inevitable that Wolves, who had scored just eight goals in the league, would get on the scoresheet.
In the 89th minute that’s exactly what happened as Tolu Arokodare stunned the stadium by rising to head home, beating Piero Hincapie to the ball with ease and giving David Raya no chance.
Luckily, Arsenal found a way to win the game in injury time, Saka forcing yet another own goal, as he crossed towards Gabriel Jesus.
After the final whistle, Mikel Arteta did not attempt to sugar-coat the evening. Asked about the mood in the dressing room, he said: “It was a relief, but a very clear understanding that the margin should have been bigger.
“After not being precise enough in the first half with the amount of situations that we generated inside the opposition box and we didn’t pick the right colour of shirt on so many occasions, we had an overload to do that.
“We had to improve in the second half in relation to that, I think we did it. We generated more chances, scored a goal, but after we had a period of two or three minutes in deep, totally passive, with horrible defensive habits, that is nowhere near the level that is required against a team that hasn’t had a single shot.”
Asked about the determination Arsenal showed to not drop points he said, “That’s something very positive, but I don’t put it down sometimes to, yeah, resilience and goal. No, it’s what happened before.
“We should have stopped the source before and that’s on us. You have to give credit to Wolves and what they’ve done. I watched a game when they played Stamford Bridge, when they played against Villa and how unlucky they were not to get a result. I knew that wasn’t going to be an easy game at all, but we made it even harder with what we did in the manner that we conceded the goal and that’s unacceptable.”
With no midweek game ahead, Arteta made clear the coming days will be used to reset and get back to basics. “What we have to do now is reset, give them two days that they can decompress a little bit and then we have a long week that we can prepare.
“When we don’t train, there are things that slowly deteriorate and certain habits start to deteriorate because you don’t train them and use that opportunity to do so, give it will everybody a boost because we know that the Christmas period is often seen as season-defining and we want to be on top of it.”
On Ben White’s latest setback, there was little optimism. “It looks like a hamstring, so we don’t know the extent of that, but probably tomorrow or the day after we’ll know more.”