Arsenal 1 - Wolves 2 match report: robbed

Not really much to say here. Arsenal should be celebrating eight straight Premier League matches unbeaten and another three points in the table. But that was stolen from them by flat-out, inexcusably terrible refereeing.

Bernd Leno didn’t do Arsenal any favors by getting a completely brain-dead red card in the second half, either. They might have been able to steal a point down a man. They weren’t ever going to down two.

I’m not sure the slight contact, if there even was any at all, from David Luiz on Willian Jose merited a foul. I don’t think it did. It definitely was not a penalty and red card situation. I’m not going to start writing about all the ways in which it was wrong or at least could have been viewed differently, because I’ll never stop.

I’ll just say this: Arsenal really do seem to come out on the wrong side of those types of situations with surprising, concerning frequency.

The sending off and the converted penalty kick completely changed the course of the match. And Arsenal will have to work hard to make sure it doesn’t change the course of the season.

The Gunners were firmly in control of the game. In fact, they might have been playing their best half of football this season. Bukayo Saka was un-markable on the right. Nicolas Pepe was a menace down the left. Thomas Partey was playing conductor, dominating the center of the pitch and dictating everything and anything that happened. Pepe’s tally was a moment of utter individual brilliance. A goal of the season candidate.

Wolves are bad, like really bad, and they played poorly today, too. Even one and two men up, they played poorly. It sucks to lose to that. It’s worse to feel like a win against that kind of side was actively taken away from your club and handed to a team like that.

That’s all I’ve got — I can’t really formulate much in the way of coherent thoughts. Don’t forget, I’m just like y’all — an Arsenal fan. So I’m feeling what you’re feeling right now. Not much to do but snap the wristband and move onto the next one. Once the blinding rage wears off, that is.