90+6' FULL TIME. Arsenal have 26 shots but can't break down ten-man Wolves to find a second. Excellent stuff from Hennessey, who made a number of superb saves.
- 90+5' Arteta's delivery is headed clear by Johnson though.
- 90+4' Doyle is guilty of a foul on Gervinho and Arsenal have a late, late chance...
- 90+3' Arsenal just don't like breaking Wolves down here. Two points could well be dropped unless they can find a way past Hennessey.
90+2' Hennessey is booked for a spot of time-wasting.
- 90+1' We will have six minutes of added time...
90' Great chance for Vermaelen! An Arshavin cross finds its way to the Belgian at the back post and his fierce effort comes off Hennessey, again.
- 88' Chamakh and Van Persie bump heads and the Dutchman needs treatment.
- 87' Koscielny embarks on a run down the left and his thumping cross-cum-shot is parried away by that man Hennessey. If Wolves hold on he is man of the match, without a doubt.
86' Wolves also shake things up with Doyle coming on for Hunt, who was losing his head a touch out there.
- 83' Stat from Infostrada: "Since the start of last season, Arsenal opponents have had 12 players sent off in the PL. This is most of all clubs. Newcastle follow with eight."
- 82' Now Wolves clear from a Gervinho cross as the pressure continues to mount. It's attack against defence at present.
- 80' Wolves were furious with that red card by the way, and rightly so, it was certainly a yellow, but a red was a bit of a stretch.
- 78' Now Arshavin takes aim from 30 yards, only to see his effort blocked. The game has settled into a pattern that will see Arsenal attack, attack and attack.
- 77' Arteta it is who takes the free-kick and his attempt loops off the wall and behind for a corner. The ball is headed out to Ramsey, who sees an effort deflected over before being clattered by Stearman.
75' Van Persie has a ball headed off the line and then chaos erupts as Milijas is shown a red card! He slides in a bit recklessly on Arteta after losing control but that seems overly harsh.
- 71' Now Vermaelen, who is on a booking, is involved in an argument with Johnson as tempers flare. Atwell would do well to calm this down a bit, and he does have words with the players.
- 65' Henry brings down Gervinho, who went looking for the foul...
- 63' Gervinho embarks on a promising run but his square pass to Song is cut out by Henry.
- 62' Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 15 home matches in the PL in which the score was 1-1 at half time, winning 11 and drawing four since a 3-2 defeat vs Leeds United in May 2003.
- 61' Stat from Infostrada: "Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 15 home matches in the PL in which the score was 1-1 at half time, winning 11 and drawing four since a 3-2 defeat vs Leeds United in May 2003."
- 60' Gervinho has been a bit hit-and-miss today and after coming in from the right again his low cross is far too close to Hennessey.
- 59' Replays show the cross from Koscielny did strike the arm of the defender but there was no intent.
- 57' Gervinho now pops up on the right wing, jinks away from Ward and fires in a shot from a tight angle that soars over the bar.
- 56' Rosicky embarks on a clever, circular run before playing the ball out wide to Benayoun. He spots Van Persie in a yard of space in the box but sees his low cross cut out before it reaches the captain.
- 55' Rosicky plays a square pass to Gervinho, who loses possession when guilty of a poor piece of control.
- 53' Van Persie gets lippy with the ref and gets a talking to. He was pushing his luck a bit there.
- 52' Gervinho draws a sliding challenge from Forde and it is a corner to Arsenal. Wolves stand firm and header clear from the set-piece.
- 50' Zubar needs more treatment and he goes down again. It looks as though the defender will be forced off.
- 49' Stat from Infostrada: "Robin van Persie has scored 47 of his 82 PL goals for Arsenal in the second half (57%)."
- 48' Nice interplay between Rosicky, Van Persie and Benayoun but Ward comes across to clear. Benayoun then plays in Gervinho but the forward is offside as he gets his feet in a tangle.
- 47' Zubar, who needed treatment in the first half, is down in pain once again after sliding in to challenge with Gervinho by the touchline.
46' KICK OFF!
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- 45+2' Fletcher sprays the pass out to Forde on the right and after showing some good footowrk the teenager has a low effort blocked.
- 45' We will have a minimum of two additional minutes.
- 44' More lovely work from Rosicky as he pulls out another nutmeg but Rosicky can't get a shot away to test Hennessey.
- 42' Stat from Infostrada: "Steven Fletcher scores Wolverhampton’s first goal at Arsenal in the PL era. It was his seventh PL goal of the season and the 25th in his career."
- 40' Arteta slips a pass into Rosicky and his fierce effort forces Hennessey into a save. Arsenal want a quick reply here.
39' GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Wolves! The visitors draw level thanks to a piece of luck and an opportunistic finish. Hunt takes a couple of touches on the edge of the box before seeing his effort take a huge deflection off Koscielny. The ball flies at Fletcher, who reacts superbly to steer a header past Wojciech Szczesny and inside the far post.
- 37' Stat from Infostrada: "Mick McCarthy has lost all six previous league matches vs Arsenal as a manager, twice with Sunderland and four times with Wolves. His teams only scored twice in those fixtures and conceded 16."
- 35' Hunt penalised for a trip on Mertesacker as the waspish midfielder looks to keep the ball from running out of play.
- 34' Stat from Infostrada: "Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 12 top flight matches on this date since a 2-1 defeat at Southampton in 1966."
- 33' It's Arteta who takes it and the midfielder sees his rather weak effort caught by Hennessey at his right-hand post.
- 29' Van Persie robs possession from Karl Henry 20 yards from goal and nutmegs the midfielder to find Rosicky, who in turn plays in Arteta. However, the Spanish midfielder's shot is blocked.
- 28' Van Persie touches the ball off to Rosicky but the return pass is overambitious as the Czech tries to flick the ball into the path of the striker using the outside of his boot.
- 27' Hunt smacks a shot high over the bar but Wolves have problems with Zubar down requiring treatment after getting a kick from Laurent Koscielny. He looks in some pain and the physios are on.
- 26' Nice work from Benayoun again but after he slips a pass to Djourou the defender's lack of control lets him down. Djourou really doesn't look comfortable as a makeshift right-back.
- 25' Stat from Infostrada: "Wolves have not scored a first half goal in six of their eight PL away matches this season."
- 24' Van Persie pulls out a Bergkamp-esque bit of control to tame a high ball, exchanges passes with Gervinho and then sees his attempted dinked cross to the back post deflected behind for a corner. Wolves scramble clear from the set-piece.
- 22' Arsenal's movement in midfield has been too much for Wolves to cope with, Benayoun, Rosicky and Gervinho all being particularly impressive for the home side.
- 20' Stat from Infostrada: "Arsenal are fielding their oldest starting line-up of the PL season, 26 years and 338 days."
- 19' Following their goal Arsenal have assumed control of this tie in emphatic fashion and should really have extended their lead. Wolves are clinging on at the moment.
- 18' Lovely stuff from Alex Song as he releaes Benayoun with a perfectly-weighted pass into the left channel. The Israeli takes the ball on but just as he threatens to find an angle for a shot he loses his footing in the box.
- 17' Forde plays in Zubar wih a clver quick pass and his low cross causes problems for Arsenal. They clear, but Wolves get the ball back into the box, forcing Mertesacker to head behind and concede a corner.
- 16' Arsenal pour forward again. Gervinho takes possession of the ball on the right, pokes a pass through to Van Persie and sees his team-mate turn the ball across the face of the goal and wide of the far post when sliding to make a connection.
- 13' Benayoun and Gervinho - who combined for the goal - have now swapped wings for Arsenal.
- 12' Arsenal have looked vulnerable down the Wolves left but that early goal appears to have settled their nerves somewhat. Now they are passing the ban around with elan.
- 10' Stat from Infostrada: "Gervinho scores his fourth PL goal of the season. Arsenal have scored at least three goals in the previous three league matches in which he scored."
- 9' Just seconds before Gervinho scored, Jarvis skipped around Djourou all too easily and coaxed the defender into throwing out his leg in desperation in the box. Instead of going to ground, Jarvis stayed up and saw his cross deflected away.
- 7' Excellent work from Yossi Benayoun as he closes down Jarvis as the winger attempts to clear. You wouldn't get that from Andrei Arshavin, would you?
- 5' There are plenty of empty seats around Emirates Stadium today. This game went to general sale and was of course moved from its original date of Boxing Day due to a tube strike. When you factor in the money families have spent over Christmas, it's no surprise really.
- 4' It appears as though teenage debutant Forde, who was named Wolves' academy player of the year last season, will be playing down the right wing, with Stephen Hunt tucked in behind lone striker Steven Fletcher.
- 3' Wolves clear from the set-piece and Tomas Rosicky, enjoying a rare start, flings the ball back into the box, only for Wayne Hennessey to catch it with ease.
- 2' Gervinho attempts to sneak past Roger Johnson on the left and the Wolves defender turns the ball behind for a corner when sliding in.
1' KICK OFF!
- 14.58 So will Wolves snap their long winless streak against Arsenal or will the Gunners capitalise on slips by Chelsea and Liverpool, and put pressure on Tottenham ahead of their 7.30pm kick-off against Norwich? The latter I reckon.
- 14.50 Wolves have had their sticky patches this season, with some vocal fans famously telling McCarthy he didn't know what he was doing earlier in the campaign, but he certainly has a fan in Arsene Wenger. Wenger: McCarthy working miracles
- 14.45 Wolves hand a full debut to 18-year-old midfielder Anthony Forde as he replaces Sylvan Ebanks-Blake in the only change from the side that drew 2-2 at home to Norwich on December 20. That sees Wolves adopt a more conservative outlook away from home, though it is still a surprise that Forde gets the nod from Mick McCarthy and not someone like Adiene Guedioura.
- 14.40 Johan Djourou's quick recovery from a groin injury sees him slot in at right-back in place of Francis Coquelin, who started the 2-1 win at Villa, while Tomas Rosicky replaces Aaron Ramsey in the midfield trio. Benayoun for Walcott is the only other change for Arsenal, who will see Robin van Persie set a new record of 37 league goals in a calendar year if he bags a hat-trick. Alan Shearer has the current record of 36.
- 14.30 Wolves, meanwhile, have just two wins in their past 15 league appearances and have not beaten Arsenal since September 1979. Indeed, the Gunners have won seven in a row against the Midlands club at home, and 12 in a row in all competitions.
- 14.25 A 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on December 21 got Arsenal back to winning ways after Manchester City halted their impressive Premier League run with a 1-0 win at Etihad Stadium, and another victory today takes the Gunners one point above Chelsea and level with Tottenham in third, though they will have played two more games than their North London rivals.
- 14.20 We have some early team news arriving: Theo Walcott has apparently been struck down with illness which opens the door for Yossi Benayoun to build on some impressive cameos from the bench and make his first Premier League start for Arsenal.
- 14.15 Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Premier League tie between Arsenal and Wolves at Emirates Stadium.
Team Line-up & Ratings
Arsenal
Manager: Arsène Wenger
Manager: Mick McCarthyWolverhampton Wanderers
On the Field
- Szczesny
- Djourou
- Mertesacker
- Koscielny
- Vermaelen
- Song
- Arteta
- Rosický
- Benayoun
- Gervinho
- van Persie
Subs
- Chamakh
85′
- Arshavin
- Ramsey
- Coquelin
- Almunia
- Oxlade-Chamberlain
- Miquel
On the Field
- Hennessey
- Zubar
- Johnson
- Berra
- Ward
- Hunt
- Milijaš
- Forde
- Henry
- Jarvis
- Fletcher
Subs
- de Vries
- Ebanks-Blake
- Stearman
- Hammill
- Guédioura
- Elokobi
- Doyle
- Hennessey
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