Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal “have to blame ourselves” after they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw at Wolves. A 94th-minute equaliser cost the Premier League leaders two points as they allowed their rock-bottom opponents back into the game, further calling into question their title credentials.
Arsenal are five points clear of Manchester City but have played a game more. The Gunners looked on their way to victory after goals from Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapié, only to be pegged back by Hugo Bueno and Tom Edozie.
Arteta said he was “extremely disappointed, obviously, with the result, with the way the game ended, but we have to blame ourselves. I think the performance in the second half didn’t show anything close to the standards that are required in this league to win, and with the margins that I think should have existed today, especially in the manner that we played the first half. Any hit, any bullet, take it, because we didn’t perform at the level that is required.”
Arsenal will be looking to recover on Sunday in the north London derby at Tottenham, after a run of two wins in seven league matches. Arteta said: “I think we need to go through the pain and you need to go through that looking in the mirror and understanding what the game requires now and the next action is on Sunday.”
Edozie had been training with the Wolves first team for only a few weeks under Rob Edwards but the 19-year-old academy graduate scored the late equaliser less than 10 minutes into his Premier League debut.
“We’re still learning about him as well,” Edwards said. “He’s been training with us over this last week or two. We just had a feeling. Sometimes you have a feeling and then that gut has proved right. As he was coming on, I just put my arm round him and said: ‘This could be your moment, go and take it.’ His family will remember that for a long, long time.”
