'It was frustrating!' - Bukayo Saka admits Arsenal needed 'luck' to beat Wolves after two own goals restored five-point lead at top of Premier League

Looking to put pressure on title rivals Manchester City ahead of their trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday, Arsenal took to the field as heavy favourites against a Wolves side who are yet to win a league game this season. However, it took until the 70th minute for the north Londoners to break the deadlock when Saka’s in-swinging corner hit the post before ricocheting off Wolves goalkeeper Johnstone and into the back of the net.

But just when Mikel Arteta’s charges thought they were heading for all three points, they had their heads in their hands when substitute Tolu Arokodare headed home from Mateus Mane’s cross on the 90th-minute mark. 

Yet in a final twist to the game, Wolves defender Mosquera unfortunately headed into his own net in the fourth minute of injury time when trying to prevent Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus from meeting Saka’s brilliant cross.

Relieved he and his team-mates were able to get over the line in the end, Saka admitted Arsenal were fortunate to come away with all three points at the Emirates Stadium.

"Yes, sometimes you need it [luck]," the winger told TNT Sports after the full-time whistle. "Today, it went our way. We will take the points and move forward. We won't know until May (how important the win will be come the end of the season), but we can be happy tonight that we left with three points. 

"Coming to the Emirates we want to make the teams know that it is going to be tough here and it is not going to be an easy game. It was frustrating at times, I'll be honest. The message to the boys was to stay patient and trying things - in the end we got our reward. It is high [morale] and we have a break now up until next week."

While manager Arteta was also relieved to see Arsenal emerge victorious against Wolves, the Spaniard was equally frustrated by his side’s inability to kill the game off sooner, saying his players made the match harder than it needed to be.

"It was a relief, but a very clear understanding that the margin should have been bigger," he said in his post-match press conference. "After not being precise enough in the first half with the amount of situations that we generated inside the opposition box and we didn't pick the right colour of shirt on so many occasions, we had an overload to do that. 

"We had to improve in the second half in relation to that, I think we did it. We generated more chances, scored a goal, but after we had a period of two or three minutes in deep, totally passive, with horrible defensive habits, that is nowhere near the level that is required against a team that hasn't had a single shot. The first time that they had the opportunity to do it, they scored the goal and this is the Premier League. 

"Unfortunately, we are relieved because we managed to score a goal at the end and go and win it, but we need to improve in that sense for sure."

Arsenal return to league action when they travel to in-form Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium next Saturday. The match will take place on that date after the Gunners were successful with their request to move the game forward ahead of their Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Crystal Palace on Tuesday, 23 December, citing a need to avoid fixture congestion.

Arteta’s men will then see out 2025 with successive home clashes against Brighton and third-placed Aston Villa in the league on Saturday, 27 December, and Tuesday, 30 December respectively.