Wolves 0 Arsenal 2:MAROUANE CHAMAKH came to the rescue in Arsenal's hour of need last night with their fastest Premier League goal – and another right at the end to make sure of a victory by which they were somewhat flattered.
The Moroccan international lifted the pressure that had once more descended on the club with a fine header and then an opportunist one-on-one finish that proved enough to defeat a spirited Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In a game of countless near misses, Arsenal had plenty of anxious moments, not least when Kevin Doyle drove inches wide from the edge of the area and Stephen Fletcher brought an excellent save from Lukasz Fabianksi at 1-0 with seconds remaining.
By then, the visiting skipper Cesc Fabregas was lucky still to be on the field, having caught Stephen Ward with a nasty late tackle that led to the full-back being stretchered to the dressing room. A yellow card was deemed sufficient by the referee Mark Halsey but it must have been a close call.
Wolves were beaten deep in stoppage time both at Old Trafford on Saturday and with 10 men at the Emirates Stadium in April but the first damaging incision on their porous defence this time arrived in the blink of an eye.
Already the only Premier League side not to manage a clean sheet this season, they were behind in a mere 37 seconds, Tomas Rosicky initiating an attack that was continued by Alex Song’s right-wing centre and turned to substantial profit as Chamakh drifted away from Richard Stearman to plant a fine downward header past Marcus Hahnemann’s right hand.
For Arsenal, it was the perfect antidote following successive defeats in the Champions League and domestic top-flight, and the thumb Arsene Wenger extended high in the air in salute was a sign of things to come.
Wolves didn’t land a glove for some time on opponents who continued to find it embarrassingly easy to advance with menace.
Only Hahnemann’s fine save denied a clean-through Andrey Arshavin following Stearman’s mistake, then Fabregas drove a shot against the goalkeeper’s knees from near the penalty spot.
Despite losing David Edwards through an early foot injury, though, Wolves regained some ground as the half wore on.
Having hit back from behind to beat Manchester City 12 days ago, they belatedly started to work Fabianski, first through Nenad Milijas’s token 25-yarder, then when Matt Jarvis’s cross looped off Sebastien Squillaci and forced the goalkeeper to desperately claw away with the substitute Stephen Hunt closing in.
There was still much for Wenger to ponder despite his side’s lead, which came under serious threat immediately after the restart when Wolves almost did what Arsenal had done, threatening to score in the first minute of a half.
Jack Wilshere lost his footing in the left-back position and enabled the impressive Jarvis to play in a cross that Milijas, arriving in tandem with Hunt, turned goal-wards, only for Bacary Sagna to block magnificently near the line.
Even with Arsenal’s seven-goal joint leading scorers, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, still warming the bench, the danger to Wolves of overstretching in search of an equaliser was obvious.
What they could well do without was the sort of unforced error by Stearman that gifted Fabregas, via Rosicky’s early pass, a glaring chance that he drove casually wide from 15 yards. The miss was the prelude to an uncomfortable spell for Arsenal.
Karl Henry, having gone unpunished for a studs-up challenge on Arshavin, miscued a free volley beyond the far post, then Doyle’s left-foot 20-yard effort was superbly turned over the bar by the diving Fabianksi.
With Wolves still finding joy from crosses, Hunt saw one flicked-on set-piece drop on to Stearman’s thigh close in and provide Rosicky with a straightforward goal-line clearance, and another despatched on to the top of the net by his team-mate Kevin Foley’s twisting header.
There was nothing comfortable about Arsenal’s advantage, although Arshavin was unlucky not to double it with a low shot on the run that bounced out off the foot of the far post.
Guardian Service
WOLVES:Hahnemann, Foley, Stearman, Berra, Ward (Fletcher 88), Edwards (Hunt 8), Mancienne (Ebanks-Blake 79), Henry, Milijas, Jarvis, Doyle. Subs not used: Hennessey, Elokobi, Mouyokolo, Van Damme. Booked: Stearman.
ARSENAL:Fabianski, Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere (Denilson 67), Rosicky, Fabregas, Arshavin (Nasri 90), Chamakh (Bendtner 90). Subs not used: Szczesny, Eboue, Walcott, van Persie. Booked: Denilson, Fabregas.
Referee:M Halsey (Lancashire).
Attendance: 27,329
