LONDON, United Kingdom, Feb 2 – Arsenal had two players sent off as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Wolves on Tuesday.
A seven-game unbeaten league run had propelled Arsenal back into contention for a return to the Champions League next season and they could have moved to within five points of the top four after Nicolas Pepe’s strike opened the scoring at Molineux.
But David Luiz’s third red card in two seasons as an Arsenal player for clipping Willian Jose on the stroke of half-time turned the game around.
Ruben Neves converted the resulting penalty before Joao Moutinho’s stunning long-range strike early in the second half put goal-shy Wolves in front.
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno then rounded off a miserable night for the visitors when he was also dismissed for handling outside his box.
A much-needed victory for Wolves ended an eight-game winless run and takes them 12 points clear of the relegation zone.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men also completed a first league double over Arsenal in 42 years.
Arsenal remain in 10th, eight points adrift of fourth-placed Leicester, having played a game more.
“The team was really on top of the game, we should have been three or four-nil up and after the red card the game changed completely,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
“I’ve seen it 10 times in different angles and I cannot tell you where the contact is.”
West Brom lost 2-1 at bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United, while Crystal Palace won 2-1 at struggling Newcastle.
