wolves vs arsenal: Late leveller leaves Gunners’ title bid under fresh scrutiny
Arsenal’s pursuit of a first league title in 22 years hit a fresh stumbling block after they surrendered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Wolves on Wednesday night (Feb. 18, 2026 ET). Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapié had given the visitors control, but a stunning Hugo Bueno strike and a stoppage-time finish from debutant Tom Edozie rescued a dramatic point for the hosts and left Arsenal with questions to answer as Manchester City close the gap.
How the game unravelled
The Gunners looked comfortable early when Bukayo Saka opened the scoring inside five minutes. The team extended the lead through Piero Hincapié’s first goal for the club in the 56th minute, and the match appeared to be progressing as another routine top-flight win. But Wolves, already languishing at the foot of the table, showed resolve. Hugo Bueno curled home a 20-yard strike to make it 2-1 and set up a nervy finale.
Chaos arrived in the fourth minute of added time. Young substitute Tom Edozie, making his senior debut, pounced on a scramble between goalkeeper David Raya and defender Gabriel, and his close-range effort deflected in Riccardo Calafiori to complete a stunning comeback. The draw prolongs Arsenal’s recent run of dropped points from winning positions and hands momentum back to their pursuers.
Pressure and the bigger picture
The result cannot be viewed in isolation. Arsenal have now dropped multiple points from winning positions since the turn of the year, and the cushion at the top has narrowed. Manchester City sit five points behind in second and still have 12 league matches to play, including a home meeting with Arsenal in April. If City win all their remaining fixtures and Arsenal slip up again, the title race will swing decisively.
Former players and pundits are already primed to question Arsenal’s nerve. One ex-forward summed up what many will say in the coming days: the word “bottle” will be used. Within the dressing room, the mood was sombre. Captain duties fell to Bukayo Saka for the night; he described the atmosphere as “very flat” after the match and stressed the need to get back to basics and restore consistency.
Manager Mikel Arteta admitted the second-half performance fell short of the standards required, urging his squad to accept criticism and channel disappointment into a response on the pitch. “Any opinion, you have to take it on the chin, ” he said. “When you are at this level and at the top you need to take the hit. ” Arteta made clear that the remedy lies in improving performance rather than public debate.
Immediate test and what’s next
Arsenal now have little time to dwell. The north London derby at Tottenham is scheduled for Sunday (Feb. 22, 2026 ET), offering an immediate chance to arrest the wobble and reassert control of the title race. The fixture carries the usual intensity and added weight given the context: a win would blunt some of the criticism and restore momentum; another slip would deepen anxieties about Arsenal’s ability to close the season strongly.
What remains clear is that Arsenal must address both tactical lapses and the psychological cracks exposed by late defeats. The squad has the talent to recover, but the margin for error is narrowing. The next two weeks — beginning in the derby — will reveal whether this draw was a blip or a symptom of something more troubling as the run-in accelerates.
