Arsenal five points clear with Odegaard double over Wolves

Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Wolves at the Molineux.

The Gunners have made rapid starts their trademark this term, but couldn’t find their rhytm early on against a Wolves side who got plenty of joy in behind their visitors full-backs.

Gabriel Jesus has found goals hard to come by in recent weeks and his first half performance will do very little to ease fears over the Brazilian’s finishing. He spurned a number of clear opportunities in the first period and the one time he did have the ball in the net he was greeted by the sight of the offside flag.

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The Gunners can consider themselves fortunate to have not had a penalty awarded against them when William Saliba’s trip on Adama Traore evaded VAR punishment.

Martin Odegaard’s first goal from close range marked his fifth strike of the season and sparked pandemonium in the away end. Fabio Vieira deserves plenty of plaudits for his assist, while Jesus’ initial ball unlocked the penalty area.

Shortly after the Gunners skipper had his sixth of the campaign and second of the evening, rifling a low left-footed strike beyond Jose Sa. The goal could prove to be one of the most important of Arsenal’s season.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says that managers have a big responsibility to control their behaviour on the sideline despite the intensity of the game.

A win at Wolves now sees the Gunners sit comfortable at the top of the Premier League table, boasting a five-point advantage over their nearest challengers Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s side were beaten 2-1 at home by Brentford at the Etihad which presented Arsenal with the chance to extend their lead while also guaranteeing that whatever happened at the Molineux, Arteta’s men would be top at Christmas.

Everyone associated with the Gunners would have felt the pressure with a five-point lead on the line, but by hook or by crook Arsenal delivered and can now enjoy the festive period with a healthy lead at the summit of the table.

Oleksandr Zinchenko’s arrival in the summer was greeted with plenty of excitement and while when he has played he has been excellent, injuries have curtailed the start of his Arsenal career.

Tasked with silencing the imposing physical presence of Adama Traore at times, many of the Gunners faithful would have expected Arteta to opt for the more natural defensive option of Kieran Tierney.

However, Arteta stuck to his guns and kept Zinchenko in the team for what he offers Arsenal going forward. The initial signs were not promising, with Wolves targeting the Ukrainian’s flank regularly in the opening exchanges.

Zinchenko’s best traits, such as his composure in possession and line-breaking passes were not on display but his inability to deal with big diagonal passes was.

Arteta even had the chance to use Tierney sooner than expected when Xhaka was hauled off, but chose to not move Zinchenko into midfield and have the Scotland international at left-back.

Arsenal parted ways with £35million to bring Vieira to the club from Porto in the summer, but injuries stalled his integration into the team.

Since being introduced into the fold, his only real standout performance came away at Brentford back in September. Each Europa League outing since then has been littered with missed chances and flashes of brilliance mixed with sloppy touches.

He came on inside the opening quarter of an hour to replace Xhaka and started slowly, but his assist for the game’s opening goal was a thing of beauty.

Vieira took a pass from Jesus in his stride, before delicately dinking the ball across the face of goal and putting it on a plate for Odegaard to guide home.

This standalone performance summed up his Arsenal career so far.