Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is calling on his squad to harness the “pain” of their unexpected 2-2 draw against Wolves to fuel their performance in the upcoming North London derby.
The Gunners appeared to be cruising toward a victory on Wednesday after Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie provided a 2-0 lead at Molineux, but bottom-of-the-table Wolves mounted a late comeback with goals from Hugo Bueno and Tom Edozie.
This result has narrowed Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to just five points over Manchester City, who also hold a game in hand. With only two wins in their last seven league outings, the pressure is mounting on a side desperate to claim their first title in 22 years.
Reflecting on the missed opportunity, Arteta defended his players’ commitment, stating, “I’m going to be the first one to be close with them because it has nothing to do with attitude or desire, it is completely the opposite.”
Arteta characterized the collapse as a statistical anomaly, noting, “If you look at the way we conceded the two goals today without conceding any other situations, it is very rare but it happens. And it happened for a reason and we need to react.”
He emphasized that for a team with title ambitions, the demand is simple: “If you are at the top you have to win and win, that’s nothing new.”
The manager is now looking for a fiery response against a struggling Tottenham side this Sunday.
He urged his team to internalize the sting of the Wolves draw, saying, “We need to go through the pain and go through it looking in the mirror and understand what the game requires now… We need to keep all that in our tummies to show it on Sunday.”
Star winger Bukayo Saka mirrored his manager’s frustration, admitting the atmosphere in the locker room was “pretty flat.”
He told Arsenal.com, “We’re pretty disappointed with the result, it’s the only way to describe it. I think it’s a game of two halves. In the first half we started so well but in the second half we dropped the level and got punished for it.”
Despite the setback, Saka remains confident that the title race is “still in our control,” adding that the team must “fix the issues we’re having now and get back to winning ways” in time for the derby.
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