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Riccardo Calafiori marked his return from injury with a stunning late winner as Arsenal secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Italian’s powerful strike in the 77th minute proved decisive, coming after a controversial first-half red card for Myles Lewis-Skelly and a second-half dismissal for Wolves’ Joao Gomes.
Arsenal started brightly, with Lewis-Skelly’s powerful run from the center circle in the first minute catching the eye. However, Wolves grew into the game, and Pablo Sarabia’s volley from Nelson Semedo’s deep cross flew over the bar.
Kai Havertz then saw a header from Leandro Trossard’s well-weighted cross drop just wide of the post, with Jose Sa scrambling along his line. Another header from Havertz shortly afterwards required a smart save from Sa.
Chances were hard to come by, with the home defense sitting deep. Declan Rice won a free-kick in a central position just outside the area, but Ethan Nwaneri’s drive hit the wall, and his follow-up shot was also charged down.
The game’s dynamics changed dramatically in the 44th minute when Lewis-Skelly was shown a red card for tripping Matt Doherty 10 yards outside the Wolves box. The referee’s decision left many inside Molineux bemused.
Mikel Arteta made adjustments at halftime, introducing Calafiori to fill the vacant left-back slot. Arsenal came out looking fired up, with Rice finding Gabriel at the far post with a good cross, but his cut-back was cleared.
Rice himself then found himself in space to shoot, but Sa parried away for a corner. The hosts were always a danger, though, with David Raya saving low down from Hwang Hee-Chan before Sarabia dragged a shot wide.
Set pieces looked to be the key to breaking through, but Havertz headed Rice’s fizzing free-kick just over. At the other end, Arsenal survived two big chances in a minute, with Raya clawing out a deflected Matheus Cunha shot before Cunha shot wide from the corner.
The hosts were building up a head of steam, but then they were down to ten men as well. As Arsenal entered the final 20 minutes, the referee showed another red card, this time to Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes for a second bookable offense on Jurrien Timber.
And within five minutes of being back to a level playing field, Arsenal took the lead. Martinelli’s cross was only half-cleared, and there was Calafiori to thump home low in off the post on the half-volley. A lovely finish from the Italian on his return from injury.
Raya made a good save to deny Rayan Ait-Nouri when the wing-back broke free late on, but other than that, Arsenal gave away very little to see out a satisfying win.
