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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Rich Jones

Bruno Lage apologises to Mikel Arteta after Arsenal's late winner vs Wolves

Wolves manager Bruno Lage apologised to Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta after tempers flared late on in their clash at the Emirates.

The Gunners took a huge step towards Champions League qualification as a late Jose Sa on goal handed them a 2-1 win deep in stoppage time.

Wolves led for the majority of the game after Hwang Hee-chan's opener and the visitors were keen to run down the clock on several occasions - much to the frustration of the hosts.

But there was a bizarre moment before Arsenal's winner as Raul Jimenez was shown a yellow card when his name was called for a substitution as Lage insisted he intended for Daniel Podence to make way.

After the game, Lage was quick to point out the situation was a breakdown in communication on the Wolves bench and he apologised to both Arteta and referee Martin Atkinson for the confusion.

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Bruno Lage apologised to Mikel Arteta after Wolves' late substitution confusion vs Arsenal (Amazon Prime Video Sport)

"The first thing is to say about that situation in the end, it was bad communication between me and my staff," Lage told Amazon Prime Video.

“I changed my mind at the last minute and that’s why we were so confused about that.

“That’s why I apologise to the referee, also to Arteta, about that, because it was not in my mind to come here and to waste time or do these kinds of things, but we move on.”

The result is a major blow to Wolves' European ambitions but they remain seventh in the table ahead of a huge trip to West Ham at the weekend.

Raul Jimenez was booked amid the confusion surrounding Wolves' late change (Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)

"This is football," Lage said. "It is 96 minutes and we need to be in the game all the minutes.

"We had three good chances to go 2-0. Arsenal then come and score two goals and get the three points. It was a good game. I think we deserved more than we got but this is football.

"I am proud of my players. We played well, we came here to play with our personality. We don't win together but now is to recover and go again against West Ham."

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