The hosts began the match on a winless run of six matches, with just nine points on the board, already 18 adrift of safety and with relegation to the Championship all but certain.
Arsenal's annual wobble had already begun
Mikel Arteta's Gunners had been imperious for much of the 2025/26 season; however, the annual wobble they always seem to experience in the latter part of each campaign under the Spaniard's stewardship had just started to rear its ugly head.
Injuries to key players hadn't helped the North Londoners' cause, with Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Mikel Merino and Max Dowman all unavailable for selection.
The Gunners will remember the reverse fixture in December only too well as, despite the gap between the two teams at that point being just as cavernous, Arsenal only won the game courtesy of two Wolves own goals from Sam Johnstone and Yerson Mosquera.
If nothing else, the Midlanders put up a hell of a fight, and they were going to have to do exactly the same if they wanted anything out of a match that on paper suggested Arsenal would win by a landslide.
No wins for Wolves against Arsenal in four years
Not since February 2022 had Wolves even managed a point against their visitors, with the Gunners winning nine straight matches since then, scoring 19 goals in those games and conceding just three.
With only one win, two draws and 10 losses at home in 13 Premier League contests this season, it really was the tallest of orders for Rob Edwards' team.
As if to add to the hosts' woes, Arsenal had only lost twice away from home all season, drawing four and winning seven. They also went into the game on the back of an unbeaten streak away from the Emirates Stadium dating back to December 2025 against Aston Villa.
Both teams made three changes to their starting XIs, with Englishman Mateus Mane becoming the youngest player ever to start 10 Premier League games for Wolves at 18 years and 155 days old.
Saka steps up early
As early as the fifth minute, the writing was on the wall for the hosts, when Declan Rice whipped in a cross for Bukayo Saka to stoop and head home Arsenal's fastest goal this season against a static defence.
The relief for the England man was evident, given it was his first goal since December against Brentford, a run of 15 games which was the longest of his club career without scoring.
Wolves had failed to win any of their last 23 matches when conceding first in the Premier League, since a victory over Ipswich Town on 5th April 2025, making their task all the more difficult.
An attacking onslaught from the visitors was to be expected, and so it proved, with Arsenal not only maintaining 74% possession in the opening half hour, but also rattling off five attempts compared to none from their hosts.
Mosquera a lone ranger for the hosts
Mosquera was at least showing some fight for Wolves, with his four first-half tackles more than anyone else on the pitch had managed.
Just two off-target shots in stoppage time were all that Edwards could take into his half-time team talk, and Arsenal were that comfortable that even their back four were routinely completing passes into the final third with ease.
Piero Hincapie alone made 19, with an 89.5% accuracy, and it was he who appeared to take the game beyond Wolves with a brilliantly-timed run onto Gabriel's pass, before finishing with aplomb in the 56th minute.
His first goal of the 25/26 campaign also meant that Arsenal had scored 13 goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, more than any other team in the Premier League this season.
Bueno's superb effort gives Wolves life
Just five minutes later, Wolves' first shot on target also handed them a lifeline, Hugo Bueno's superb curling effort from outside of the box giving David Raya no chance.
His first goal in 67 league appearances was also assisted by another Bueno, Santiago - a 'good' goal if ever there was one.
After Tolu Arokodare's strike for Wolves in December and Brian Brobbey's for Sunderland in November, Bueno became the third player to score their first-ever Premier League goal for their clubs against the Gunners this season.
Viktor Gyokeres was unsurprisingly hooked again just after the hour mark by Arteta.
One touch in the box against the worst side in the division, and just 12 touches in total with a 62.5% pass accuracy - the worst of every outfield player that started the game - is an alarming statistic.
Edozie silences the away contingent
A flurry of substitutions from both sides would eventually alter the course of the game, with Tom Edozie's introduction for Wolves on 83 minutes proving fruitful.
10 minutes later, and already well into injury time, Raya and Gabriel got in each other's way, and Edozie's fierce drive went in off Riccardo Calafiori, who had only entered the pitch 43 seconds beforehand.
His goal - on his Premier League debut - also gave context as to just how bad Gyokeres had been on the night.
Edozie, in the space of 16 minutes, nine of which were during injury time, managed eight touches of the ball, just four fewer than the Swedish international, who spent 64 minutes on the pitch.
Though Man City remain five points behind Arsenal, they now have a game in hand and always come on strong in the home straight, where a title race is concerned.
North London derby win is imperative
The North London derby on Sunday now becomes a must-win for the Gunners, whilst Pep Guardiola's side have a game on Saturday against a Newcastle side fresh from a 5,061-mile round trip to face Qarabag in the Champions League playoffs.
When Arteta looks back over this match and wonders how on earth his side managed to throw away a two-goal lead, he'll see that Mosquera and Bueno's winning of the vast majority of their tackles was a major reason why his side was unable to breach Wolves' back line further.
Only Saka and Rice won possession more times (nine) than Mateus Mane's seven (though Hugo Bueno was best in class with 10), whilst the loss of possession on 146 separate occasions isn't a stat the squad will want to be reminded of.
More tackles attempted by Wolves (26 to 20), and more won (14 to 12), is another standout number that brings into sharp focus where Arsenal need to dig much, much deeper in order to win a longed-for and long overdue Premier League title.
