WOLVERHAMPTON, England (REUTERS) - Arsenal's fragility on the road returned as a 3-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday (April 24) put a huge dent in their hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Unai Emery's side needed only a point to reclaim fourth spot from Chelsea but conceded three times before the break against a clinical Wolves side who moved up to seventh.
Ruben Neves opened the scoring with a superb 28th minute free kick before Matt Doherty's glancing header made it 2-0 nine minutes later.
Dreadful Arsenal defending allowed Diogo Jota to surge through and fire a shot past Bernd Leno on the stroke of halftime.
A late Sokratis Papastathopoulos header from Granit Xhaka's cross was scant consolation for the Gunners fans who watched their side lose a seventh away league game this season.
With three games left Arsenal remain in fifth place with 66 points, a point behind Chelsea and four behind third-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester United are sixth with 64.
Wolves rose to seventh spot with 51 points - a position that could offer a route into European football next season - and are set to become the first promoted club to finish in the top eight since Reading in 2006-07.
Arsenal have now lost two matches in a row following Sunday's home defeat by Crystal Palace and they may need the backup option of winning the Europa League to claim a place in next season's Champions League.
Emery remained confident they can finish in the top four.
"We can be frustrated but the Premier League is about being consistent over 38 matches," the Spaniard said.
"Today, we're disappointed but we need to remember how we were three months ago.
"We can be optimistic and recover for the top four."
Arsenal dominated possession in the first 20 minutes but Joao Moutinho served notice of Wolves' threat as he curled wide after a flowing counter-attack.
Nacho Monreal was then penalised for a foul on Jota and Neves sent his curling free kick past Leno.
Arsenal switched off at a corner in the 37th minute, allowing Moutinho and Jonny to exchange passes before the latter's cross was glanced by Doherty past a flailing Leno.
In first-half stoppage time Arsenal carelessly conceded possession and Jota's angled shot beat Leno.
Arsenal did tighten up after the break but the damage had already been done.
Incredibly Wolves have now picked up 16 points in their matches against the current top six this season with wins over Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and now Arsenal.
Watford squeeze past QPR into FA Cup last eight Agencies February 17, 2019. Facebook Count Watford had possession in the first half but struggled to make any inroads against the solid home
Pochettino Loses His Cool as Spurs Slump, Huddersfield Closer to Relegation Mauricio Pochettino launched a furious rant at referee Mike Dean after Tottenham's Premier League title challenge suffered a crushing blow in a controversial 2-1 defeat against Burnley, while Huddersfield were pushed closer to relegation by their 2-0 loss at Newcastle
Pochettino loses his cool as Spurs slump, Huddersfield closer
Eden Hazard "deserves" a move to Real Madrid, says Emmanuel Petit, but his departure is going to leave "boring" Chelsea struggling to "cope without him". The Belgium international forward is
Eden Hazard closer to Real Madrid move after 'decision' taken
Football: Hougang find inspiration in skipper Zulfahmi Arifin to climb to second in the SPL SINGAPORE - Hougang's dead-eye over the deadball Zulfahmi Arifin proved the difference as the Cheetahs romped to a 4-1 win over Geylang International at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday (April 20) to climb up to second in the nine-team Singapore
Warriors - Hougang United LiveStream: - spreaker.com
Lacazette double helps Arsenal beat Valencia May 3rd, 2019 Reuters News Service Europa League , Football , Sport 0 comments Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring their third goal
Lacazette double helps Arsenal beat Valencia 3-1 - Al Arabiya
Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho embarrassingly slipped after presenting a symbolic face-off to a match in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on Monday. Videos of the 56-year-old boss falling on a red carpet on the ice rink in Balashikha appeared on social media after the accident.
Jose Mourinho ice hockey fall video, puck drop, Manchester
REUTERS: Liverpool will be without forwards Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino when they face Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final as they look to overturn a 3-0 deficit
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino ruled out of
Real lose all in space of a week. Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois grasping at thin air as a left-wing free kick from Lasse Schone soars past him into the top corner for Ajax's fourth goal
Real lose all in space of a week - theworldnews.net
Football: Spurs beaten for first time in new stadium
(L-R) Barcelona's French defender Samuel Umtiti, Barcelona's Spanish defender Gerard Pique and Barcelona's Spanish defender Jordi Alba celebrate after their team won the Spanish league football match against Deportivo Coruna and claimed their 25th La Liga at the Riazor stadium in Coruna on April 29, 2018.
Barcelona more solid at the back now since start of season
Sarri, whose own future at Chelsea remains in doubt after a tumultuous campaign with Juventus credited with an interest in luring him back to Serie A, admitted he had long known of Hazard's intentions. "As you know, Hazard is a wonderful player, but you have to spend two or three months to understand him as a man," said the Italian.
Hazard still keen on 'dream' Real Madrid move | Sports
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen