Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal were reduced to 10 men during the second half of their Premier League game against Wolves at Molineux on Thursday evening but held on for a 1-0 win
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Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves has questioned Arsenal’s post-match celebrations following his team’s 1-0 defeat at Molineux on Thursday evening.
The Gunners edged the close encounter thanks to a first-half goal from defender Gabriel Magalhaes. The result sees Mikel Arteta’s side jump up to fifth in the table.
Arsenal’s discipline was again a problem, as Gabriel Martinelli was sent off after receiving two bookings in the space of a few seconds.
After playing the final 21 minutes of the game with 10 men, the visitors were understandably relieved to pick up the three Premier League points.
Neves believes Arsenal’s celebrations are a measure of just how much Wolves have grown under manager Bruno Lage, who was appointed last summer.
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“We did well but we are struggling to score goals and conceding a lot on set-pieces,” said the Portugal international at full-time.
“With their goal there is some doubt about whether it was a foul or not but that’s football. We are used to these decisions.
“We need to improve a lot on scoring goals because we are creating chances but we’re not good enough in that part of the game.
“I can accept the decision about their goal but in some games they give it and in some games they don’t. They need to do the same decisions in every game because it’s frustrating for us.
“We saw the way they celebrated the win and that shows the level we are. I didn’t see Arsenal celebrating like this in the past 10 years – it was like they won the league.”
Despite Neves’ comments, Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey believes the result is “massive” for his team in their pursuit of Champions League football at a tough venue.
The Gunners have just 16 games left in their season after being knocked out of the FA Cup and League Cup last month.
“We deserved it and the team showed a lot of character. We have to go game by game and today was a massive win for us,” said Partey.
“We know how difficult it is to come here and get the three points.
“They have a big crowd that supports them and they got a high from the crowd but we did our best and in the end we deserved it and we fought for each other.”
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Arsenal manager Arteta added: “We put ourselves in trouble with the red card and we had to dig in.
“Wolves threw seven players up front and it was difficult to maintain a clean sheet but we defended the box extremely well.
“We have to go game by game and there are small margins to win games. We have to keep improving. Our reality is the next game.”
On the red card, he added: “I’ve never seen that. I’ve been 18 years in this country and I’ve never seen something like it.
“We made it even more difficult for ourselves playing with 10 men. We suffered a lot in the last 10 minutes. I’ve never seen something like it.”
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