2 positives & negatives from Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Wolves

Arsenal cruised to a 2-0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday to remain top of the Premier League table.

Within the first ten minutes of the second half, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard opened the scoring for the visitors, before adding his second twenty minutes later.

It was a comfortable performance from Mikel Arteta’s side, who have secured their place on top of the table for Christmas time.

2 positives & negatives from Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Wolves

Here are two positives and two negatives of Arsenal’s Saturday night win at Molineux.

Positive #1 – Martin Odegaard’s sublime performance

Arsenal’s Norwegian controlled the match for the Gunners. He was instrumental in all that was positive offensively. Usually, the 23-year-old is providing, but on Saturday he was clinical when the Gunners needed him to be.

His first goal came after Fabio Vieira lifted the ball over Jose Sa to our welcoming skipper, who tapped the ball into the empty Wolves net. His second came just twenty minutes later. After Gabriel Martinelli won the ball back on the wing, Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross fell to the Brazilian, whose shot was saved by Sa. The rebound then came to Odegaard, who took a touch before doubling the visitors’ lead.

It was an unusual goal for Arsenal to score. Just like the first goal, it’s normal to see how each effort has been crafted by Arteta and drilled into the players: it becomes their second nature. This goal was not like that; it was scrappy. But scrappy goals are goals nonetheless and, if Arsenal want to challenge for the title, these goals could prove vital.

Negative #1 – Another game, another blank for Gabriel Jesus

Despite his overall play being crucial to Arsenal’s success this season, Gabriel Jesus has now gone another Premier League match without scoring.

It’s a run that the 25-year-old would like to put to an end. He did come close. After compatriot Martinelli crossed the ball towards Jesus, he touched the ball down and fired into the bottom corner, but the flag was raised for offside. Next, he cut inside and rifled the ball off the top of the crossbar, which was the closest Arsenal came to scoring in the first half.

Jesus’ lack of goals should not cause concern for the Arsenal faithful. The Gunners are still scoring and still winning: Jesus is an important piece in Arteta’s puzzle.

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