Ian Wright pinpoints big Arsenal worry after nervy 2-1 win against Wolves

Arsenal legend Ian Wright admitted he was worried about how the Gunners dropped off in the second half during their 2-1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, December 2.

Mikel Arteta and Co. dominated the first half and looked like a well-oiled machine as they completely controlled the game. Bukayo Saka gave the home side the lead in the sixth minute with a good finish, before Martin Odegaard doubled their advantage seven minutes later with an excellent shot into the bottom-right corner.

However, Arsenal came out a bit flat in the second half, with the intensity visibly dropping off. Oleksandr Zinchenko was caught in possession in the 86th minute, enabling Matheus Cunha to pull a goal back for Wolves.

Even though the Gunners were just about able to hold onto their lead to secure all three points, Wright was far from happy with their second-half outing. He said (via METRO):

"A bit nervy at the end. You’d expect that from Wolves, I think getting down to that stage of the game they had to throw some caution to the wind and to be fair to them they put us under a bit of pressure and got the goal."

Again, it comes down to concentration, I think Zinchenko has to put his foot through that. But I thought we did enough to win the game. Second half it’s fair to say it was a bit backs to the wall, the work was done in the first half."

He added:

"It’s a little bit worrying to see the drop off in the second half, I don’t know if it’s nerves or what it could’ve been but I think Wolves got a little bit more initiative about them, tried to go at us, put us under pressure and you saw they put us under pressure in the box, Zinchenko doesn’t quite clear his lines, that was enough to give us a little bit of a problem towards the end of the game."

He concluded:

"I think the worry was seeing Arsenal dropping deeper and deeper. I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with the substitutions, Saka and Odegaard going off, but we did feel like we dropped a bit deeper, lost a little bit of control, that’s when Wolves pushed up on us and forced the mistake."

Arsenal remain at the top of the Premier League standings with 33 points from 14 games. They will be aiming to maintain their winning streak in their next fixture against Luton Town on Tuesday, December 5.

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta provides injury update on key defender

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta recently provided an injury update on Takehiro Tomiyasu after he was subbed off in the 79th minute holding his calf on Saturday.

Tomiyasu made his fourth league start in a row for the Gunners over Ben White against Wolves. He had a good game at right-back, providing one assist. He also made four recoveries and won six duels.

However, he was subbed off for White, leading to fans worrying over a serious injury. During the post-match press conference, Arteta said (via Arsenal's official website):

“We have to check him, he was a bit fatigued, and we decided to take him off. So, he’ll get assessed but hopefully he’ll be fine.”

Tomiyasu has made 19 appearances across all competitions this season, scoring one goal and providing three assists.