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Arsenal Vs Wolves: 5 things we learned – Mikel Arteta’s best performance

By Andrew Dowdeswell

Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Photo by Sam Bagnall - AMA/Getty Images)
Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Photo by Sam Bagnall - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Photo by Sam Bagnall – AMA/Getty Images) /

On Saturday evening, Arsenal travelled to Wolves needing to win to keep their Champions League hopes alive. Here are five things we learned from the 2-0 win.

In the most important game since the Premier League’s restart, Arsenal produced their best performance under Mikel Arteta, dispatching an excellent Wolves team in a 2-0 victory. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring with a superb volley just before half-time, before an industrious second-half display was polished off superbly by Alexandre Lacazette with a lovely touch and finish. It is the Gunners’ third-straight victory and catapults them into the Champions League race.

Here are five things we learned.

WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 04: Sead Kolasinac of Arsenal and Adama Traore of Wolverhampton Wanderers battle for the ball during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal FC at Molineux on July 04, 2020 in Wolverhampton, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Mike Egerton/Pool via Getty Images)
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 04: Sead Kolasinac of Arsenal and Adama Traore of Wolverhampton Wanderers battle for the ball during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal FC at Molineux on July 04, 2020 in Wolverhampton, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Mike Egerton/Pool via Getty Images) /

5. Sead Kolasinac is a mess

This was not the perfect performance from Arsenal. Granit Xhaka was very poor in central midfield, Wolves dictated play for large portions, especially in the second half, and it required some wasteful finishing and hard work late on to seal the victory, but of all the problems, none were as disastrous as Sead Kolasinac at left centre-half.

Defensively, he was all over the place. Kieran Tierney berated him on several occasions in the first half for leaving the wing-back in two vs. ones. He committed far too many fouls, was rolled by Adama Traore time and time again, cleared poorly from set-pieces, and often raced into midfield only to bypassed by clever Wolves combination.

In possession, he was even worse. He took far too long to release passes, then invariably played inaccurate ones when he did. He panicked whenever the ball came close to him and he provided little angle for David Luiz to feed him in a way that pushes beyond the initial line of the Wolves press. Kolasinac was as an utter mess and he will cost Arsenal points in the future.