Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolves - Match Report

We got the 2024/25 Premier League season off to the perfect start with victory over Wolves at Emirates Stadium.

Kai Havertz got the scoring started when he nodded home a Bukayo Saka cross after 25 minutes, but the visitors would cause us some nervy moments either side of the break with David Raya needing to be at his best to keep us in front.

However Saka added a goal to his afternoon’s work when he blasted home at the near post to ensure we recorded a seventh-straight win against the Molineux side, and see the superb form from the final few months of last season flow into the new campaign.

As is tradition on the opening day, the game kicked off at a sunkissed Emirates Stadium with our Gooners filled with hope and belief - and our first-half performance only added to that as we began as bright as the conditions the game was played in.

We bossed the opening stages, and peppered the Wolves goal with a host of early attempts. Ben White saw a couple of sighters from outside the box fizz wide, while Saka slipped his way around a defender to fire low - but Jose Sa was equal to it.

Saka shot off target soon after, as did Declan Rice moments later as the confidence grew. Our dominance was rewarded after 25 minutes when the first goal of the season arrived.

Oleksandr Zinchenko did well to win possession in the middle of the park and slipped a neat pass off to Saka. He waited to pick his moment to fire in a devilish delivery, and Havertz beat Sa to the ball and headed powerfully into the empty net to get our campaign off and running.

However only a superb piece of goalkeeping kept our lead intact 10 minutes later. Wolves won back possession in our half and Hwang Hee-Chan crossed for Jorgen Strand Larsen who headed goalwards. Just as it looked as though the ball would fly past David Raya, our goalkeeper showed great reactions and flexibility to claw it away.

That ensured we led at the break, and Havertz had a glorious chance to double our lead four minutes into the second half when Gabriel Martinelli teased his way to the edge of the box and found the German inside the box, but he couldn’t find any curl on his attempt and watched it sail wide.

Thomas Partey went close from 20 yards, but Wolves had looked much stronger following the restart and the introduction of Matheus Cunha - and the visitors nearly found an equaliser when Rayan Ait-Nouri drilled just off target from 25 yards.

That showed just how fragile our advantage was and it came under threat again when a loose pass by William Saliba on the edge of his own area was seized upon by Cunha, who was denied by Raya.

That save proved pivotal, as Saka scored our second of the afternoon after 74 minutes. After we received a free-kick just inside the Wolves half, Partey found Havertz, who in turn laid it off to Saka.

The England winger cut inside onto his left foot and thumped the ball past the unsighted Sa to ease the tension inside Emirates Stadium, and score his 59th Gunners goal - fittingly putting him level with the late Kevin Campbell, who had been honoured pre-match in the first league game since his passing.

The chances dried up in the closing stages - but Raya, last season’s Golden Glove winner, secured his first clean sheet of this campaign after beating away a late Pablo Sarabia volley.

That, plus the two goals and three points meant Mikel Arteta was more than pleased at full-time, as we recorded three opening-game wins in a row for the first time since 2010.

We have won more points (52), more games (17/19) and scored more goals (56) than any other side in the Premier League in 2024.

Wolves have lost their opening game in four consecutive league campaigns for the first time in their history. They’ve also lost six of their last seven Premier League matches overall (W1).

Kai Havertz has both scored and assisted in five different Premier League games in 2024, the most by an Arsenal player in a single calendar year since Robin van Persie in 2011 (6 times).

We have scored in each of our last 34 meetings with Wolves in all competitions, since a 1-0 home loss in February 1979. It’s both our longest scoring streak against an opponent, and Wolves’ longest run without a clean sheet against a side in their respective histories.

Havertz’s opener was his 33rd Premier League goal with only Ilkay Gündogan (44) netting more among German players in the competition (Mesut Ozil also 33). Indeed, Havertz has been involved in 17 goals across his last 15 Premier League appearances (10 goals, 7 assists).

Through Bukayo Saka and Havertz, Arsenal had two players both score and assist in the opening game of a Premier League season for the first time. Indeed, prior to today, the last Arsenal player to score and assist on MD1 was Cesc Fabregas vs Everton in 2009/10.
 

Our first away day of the season sees us head to Aston Villa next Saturday for a 5.30pm kick-off. We then return to Emirates Stadium on Saturday, August 31 for a clash against Brighton & Hove Albion.