Arsenal have moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League table courtesy of a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in North London.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were on the scoresheet for Mikel Arteta's side, who have opened up a four-point advantage over second-placed Manchester City in the division, albeit having now played a game more from the reigning champions.
Matheus Cunha had one back for Wolves late on, but the visitors could not find a second, with Gary O'Neil's side suffering their seventh league loss of the campaign.
Wolves started full of confidence, but the visitors found themselves behind in the sixth minute of the contest, with Saka firing into the bottom corner after breaking into the penalty box.
Smart work from Gabriel Jesus led to Takehiro Tomiyasu having space on the edge of the box, and the defender fed the ball into Saka, who managed to break past Craig Dawson before picking out the back of the net.
Arsenal then doubled their advantage in the 13th minute through Odegaard, who found the bottom corner with a smart finish after Oleksandr Zinchenko had picked out his teammate following a one-two with Jesus.
Jose Sa made a smart save to deny Leandro Trossard in the 22nd minute, but the Wolves goalkeeper then had to leave the field with an injury shortly after, which led to Daniel Bentley being introduced.
The chances kept coming for Arsenal, with Odegaard missing the target after Gabriel Martinelli had a shot blocked, with Wolves struggling to get out of their own half at the Emirates Stadium.
Martinelli then hit the post for the home side in the latter stages of the first period, before Jesus somehow fired over the crossbar from close range after an excellent delivery from Saka.
Wolves had a chance to halve the deficit in the latter stages of the first period when Hwang Hee-chan burst through on goal, but Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was quick off his line to deal with the danger.
The Gunners called for a penalty early in the second half when Jesus went down inside the box under pressure from Max Kilman, but the referee was not interested and VAR agreed.
Wolves then came close to registering in the 54th minute through Cunha, but the forward's powerful strike was kept out by Raya during an open period of the match.
Trossard lifted one over the away side's crossbar just before the hour, before Declan Rice missed the target after smart work from Odegaard, with the score remaining 2-0 heading into the final 25 minutes of action.
Saka came close to his second of the match in the 76th minute, but the England international's strike from distance just missed the top corner, with Bentley getting nowhere near it.
The Wolves goalkeeper managed to make two excellent saves to deny Trossard and Saka in quick succession in the 83rd minute, and the visitors then scored, with Cunha smashing into the far corner from just inside the box after Arsenal had failed to clear their lines.
Bentley tipped an effort from Eddie Nketiah onto the post in the 87th minute, with the visitors staying alive heading into stoppage time, but they were unable to find a second, as the Gunners managed to secure a huge three points in their battle for the title.
Arsenal will be aiming to make it a sixth straight win in all competitions when they head to Luton Town on Tuesday, while Wolves will be bidding to bounce back from the loss when they host Burnley on the same night. body check tags ::
