David Luiz and Bernd Leno sent off as Wolves hit back to beat Arsenal A showcase for Arsenal’s newfound European credentials spiralled into a nightmare. They had torn through Wolves in the first half and it felt like some kind of achievement that the home side, short of confidence and hopelessly porous, had struggled towards the break with only the concession of a Nicolas Pépé goal. Then came an incident that stopped the visitors’ hot streak and set the stage for Wolves to halt their eight‑game winless run, seeing matters out in comfort against nine men. Craig Pawson was moments from blowing for half-time when Daniel Podence sent Willian José behind the Arsenal defence with a cute through ball. David Luiz, the player exposed, set off in pursuit and clipped the striker with his knee. There is little doubt he committed a foul and the resulting penalty award was fair. But Pawson then brandished a red card and, given David Luiz had not offered any challenge, it seemed a highly questionable call. He had done little more than run in a straight line but the VAR official, Jonathan Moss, backed his colleague up and the Brazilian had no recourse from there. Had David Luiz really been careless, reckless or excessively forceful, as per the rulebook’s requirements for a sending-off? Perhaps some kind of case could be made for the former and, to play devil’s advocate, it will not escape anybody that David Luiz has a habit of being close to such crime scenes. This was his third red card in Arsenal colours and his sixth penalty conceded; his centre-back partner, Rob Holding, suffers from no such affliction. Rúben Neves was in no mood to ponder the whys and wherefores, sending Bernd Leno the wrong way, and Wolves had their platform. Mikel Arteta’s main complaint surrounded the foul itself, although that particular case appeared weaker. “I’ve seen the replay 10 times in five different angles and I cannot see any contact,” he said. “I’m sitting here expecting to see something and I’m not seeing anything.” Nobody could miss Wolves’ winner. They re-emerged as if imbued with fresh energy and João Moutinho promptly scored a peach. Perhaps Bukayo Saka or Thomas Partey could have closed him down more quickly when he took possession 30 yards out, but it still required perfection to convert from there. The veteran duly delivered it, giving Leno no chance with a vicious, rising blast that cannoned in off his right-hand post. “A worldie,” Arteta admitted, and on most other occasions it would have stood out as the defining moment. Arsenal rarely looked like turning the tide and their evening deteriorated further when Leno, perhaps misjudging the bounce off a sodden pitch after racing from his area, shovelled the ball out with his hand. He was dismissed too, a decision Arteta did not question, and Wolves suffered no real alarms in the remaining 18 minutes. What a contrast it was to the flurry of traffic they had encountered earlier on. Saka was denied three times in the first 10 minutes: first by Rui Patrício’s post, with the whistle from kick-off still echoing; then by a smart save from the keeper; then by VAR’s decision that Alexandre Lacazette had strayed millimetres offside before teeing him up for a glorious right-footed finish. Pépé subsequently hit the bar, via Patricio’s fingertips, with a searing angled drive. When it came his goal was brilliantly taken, whipped in from an angle after making mugs of both Nélson Semedo and Neves in a determined burst down the right. His improvement in recent games is clear but Wolves’ defending was that of a side that has, for most of this season, forgotten the discipline it once held dear. “The way we lost the game really hurts, it’s painful,” Arteta said of a first defeat since mid-December. For Nuno Espírito Santo there was relief and hope of a turning point in a hitherto downbeat campaign. “You never know what is ahead of us,” the Wolves manager deadpanned. It would have been a good note of caution for anyone who saw how this match began.