Ian Wright praises two Arsenal stars after Gunners’ late win against Wolves

Ian Wright has praised two Arsenal stars for helping stage a late rescue act against Wolves.

The Gunners looked set to drop two valuable points in the title race when Tolu Arokodare struck in injury time to punish the lethargic league leaders who had owed their lead to a fortuitous Sam Johnstone own goal.

There was still just enough time for Mikel Arteta’s troops to salvage a victory and spare their blushes when a trademark Bukayo Saka cross was turned into his own net by Yerson Mosquera under pressure from Gabriel Jesus.

It was Saka’s persistence and the movement of Jesus, who impressed for the second time in the space of four days, that ultimately proved decisive and Wright was relieved the pair came up with the goods.

‘Well done guys that’s not easy,’ the Arsenal legend told his followers on Instagram. ‘It’s not easy trying to win the league.

‘Again we weren’t at our best. We did it, we got the three points at home which we have to do.

‘What can I say, well done Saka agian my friend. Came up with the goods. Jesus beautiful to see even though they’re saying it’s an own goal, I don’t really care.

‘What I do think is we.ve just got to go this is the journey this is what it’s about. We’ve done it thre times now finishing second and we are trying to get over that line. Get behind the boys. Let’s go.’

While Wright was keen to stress the positives of the salvage operation, Arteta branded Arsenal’s performance ‘unacceptable’.

Arteta said: ‘It was a relief, but we have a very clear understanding that the margins should have been bigger.

‘We generated more chances in the second half, but after that we had a period of two or three minutes in deep, totally passive, with horrible defensive habits that are nowhere near the levels required.

‘The first time they had an opportunity to score they did. Fortunately, we are relieved because we managed to score at the end and win it.

‘That is positive, but we should have stopped the shots before and that is on us.

‘We knew it would not be an easy game, but we made it even harder and more difficult with what we did, and the manner that we conceded the goal, and that is unacceptable.’

A draw here would have handed Manchester City the chance to knock Arsenal off the top of the table if they beat Crystal Palace on Sunday.

But Pep Guardiola’s side will now head into the Selhurst Park fixture five points back.

Arsenal’s defensive woes meanwhile show few signs of improving after Ben White suffered a hamstring problem.

With Gabriel, Cristhian Mosquera and Riccardo Calafiori all sidelined, White, who lasted just 30 minutes on Saturday, now looks set for a sustained period out, too.

William Saliba returned after a four-game absence with an ankle injury for Saturday’s contest under the lights, but Arteta continued: ‘Ben has not played a lot of minutes because of the previous knee issue he had, and the moment he got some momentum he had to play a lot because we did not have another solution.

‘We had to risk William (Saliba) today. It was not the best call to play 90 minutes, we were buying tickets for another injury, but we do not have anyone else.’