Arsenal exposed to rising hostility as fans return to stadium during poor run of form

As 2,000 supporters return to the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners need to be braced for some live criticism given the team's ongoing struggles

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  ARSENAL RATINGS: Bernd Leno, 6 – The Arsenal shot-stopper was the victim of some static defending in front of him, epitomised as Daniel Podence pounced on the loose ball to slot home after Leno had smartly saved from Neto with his feet. Reuters

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  Hector Bellerin, 6 – Another hard working display from the right-back who was buzzing around the Wolves box when Arsenal were able to get on the front foot, but produced a vital header at the other end to nick the ball away from Pedro Neto. AFP

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  David Luiz, 5 – He suffered a nasty clash of heads with Raul Jimenez in the opening stages that left Luiz heavily bandaged and both players needing lengthy treatment. He bravely soldiered on, but struggled against the unrelenting pace of the Wolves attack. EPA

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  Gabriel, 7 - The soaring Gabriel produced a monstrous header to level the scores, but he was floored by the brilliance of Podence who restored his side’s lead. In fairness, the defender bounced back again though with a series of vital interventions to keep his side in the game. Reuters

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  Kieran Tierney 5 - It was a difficult night’s work for the normally classy full-back who struggled to contain the energy of Adama Traore and the trickery of Podence and failed to provide his side with any real attacking support on the left flank. Reuters

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  Dani Ceballos, 5 - Another quiet evening for the midfielder who saw little of the ball as the opposition looked to work the ball in wide areas, which made it difficult for Arsenal to escape their own territory. Reuters

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  Granit Xhaka, 4 – Like Ceballos, he had minimal impact in a passive opening 45 minutes from his side and things didn’t get much better after the break which led to his withdrawal for the closing stages. Reuters

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  Joe Willock, 5 - I’m genuinely not sure if he touched the ball in the first-half. To his credit, he worked hard to try and get involved in the second but, despite asking the Wolves defence a couple of questions, he was unable to create anything of real significance. Reuters

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  Willian, 6 - What he’s lacking in years he certainly has in quality and he inch-perfect cross put the equaliser on a plate for Gabriel, but he couldn’t replicate that same pinpoint accuracy when he fired a free-kick over the bar from a promising area. AFP

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  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 5 – Just two goals in 10 Premier League games now for Aubameyang who started brightly as his early cut-back almost caused problems, but nodded a golden chance over late on and was ultimately isolated for most of the game. AFP

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  Bukayo Saka, 7 - The versatile youngster never seems to stop running. His pace on the counter caused issues again as he picked out Aubameyang whose pull-back was hacked clear, and he continued to make a nuisance of himself in the second-half. AFP

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  SUB: Rob Holding, 6 - Replaced David Luiz at the break who, despite his bravery, was clearly worse for wear as blood continued to flow from that nasty head wound, but the substitute could only head over from Saka’s cross and was booked for hauling down Traore. AFP

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  SUB: Reiss Nelson, 6 - Brought on for Willian who, despite his assist, had found openings hard to come by. He almost struck the equaliser too, but he lashed over on the volley after a neat piece of chest control. Reuters

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  SUB: Alexandre Lacazette, NR - The striker was hauled in desperation by Arteta for the final 12 minutes, but it was too little too late and he had little opportunity to make an impact. Reuters

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  WOLVES RATINGS: Rui Patricio, 6 – There was little he could do to keep out Gabriel’s thumping header, but beyond that he had little to do. Despite that, he nearly caused himself problems when a sloppy touch saw him robbed of possession by Aubameyang. Reuters

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  Nelson Semedo, 7 - A calm and collected night’s work from the full-back who was beaten by the pace of Saka early on but marshalled the game well for the most part, although he was thankful to see Aubameyang head wide after losing an aerial battle with the Gabon man. Reuters

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  Willy Boly, 6 – Another who was largely untroubled asides from Gabriel’s leveller, he joined a lengthy list of names in Michael Oliver’s book for cynically taking out the advancing Willock. AFP

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  Conor Coady, 7 - A commanding display from the skipper, though his heart will have been in his mouth as he slid in to try and repel a low cross but ultimately came within inches of poking the ball into his own net. AFP

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  Fernando Marcal, 7 – The left-back capped a composed performance with a pivotal header to see off Saka's dangerous cross as Arsenal lay siege to the Wolves penalty area late on, after he had earlier picked out Neto with a smart ball down the line. Reuters

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  Adama Traore, 8 - The winger’s terrifying pace is normally enough to give any defender nightmares. He wriggled away from Kieran Tierney before standing up a lovely cross that was eventually bundled home by Neto and was again instrumental in the build-up to Wolves second. Reuters

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  Leander Dendoncker, 6 - Right place, right time, but the wrong outcome as the midfielder’s header hammered the woodwork when it looked easier to score, while Leno was easily able to hang on to another headed effort from the midfielder. Reuters

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  Joao Moutinho, 6 - Having earlier floored Gabriel with an absolute piledriver, he was caught flat-footed as Saka burst away from him with Arsenal chasing an equaliser. In fairness to Moutinho, he probably covered every blade of grass in a breathless outing. Reuters

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  Daniel Podence, 9 - Quite simply brilliant. After a subdued start to the campaign the Wolves man is flying now and he restored his side’s lead with a calm finish into the corner after an exquisite flick over the grounded Gabriel. AFP

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  Pedro Neto, 8 - The tricky winger looked keen to add to his strike against Southampton from the off and he did so. He had Arsenal defender’s scrambling inside the opening 30 seconds and smashed home the opener after Dendoncker shook the bar. Reuters

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  Raul Jimenez, 6 – Wolves’ star striker will have been keen to add to his tally at the Emirates, but his side suffered a huge blow as a nasty clash of heads with David Luiz saw the Mexican striker’s evening come to an abrupt end when he was stretchered off inside 10 minutes. EPA

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  SUB: Fabio Silva, 7 - An early introduction for the 18-year-old who looked at ease against an at times quivering defence. He was unlucky not to grab an assist too as Traore fired into the side netting from the teenager’s selfless lay-off. Reuters

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  SUB: Ruben Neves, 6 - Replaced the superb Podence for the final 20 minutes as Wolves switched to a more robust shape to preserve their advantage, but he didn;’t see much of the ball in truth. Reuters

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  SUB: Max Kilman, NR - Replaced a fellow substitute when he was brought on in place of Fabio Silva for the closing stages as Nuno Espirito Santo looked to protect his side’s lead, which they did in fairness. Reuters

Last Saturday morning, it felt like the days when a long away trip would be the highlight of a weekend. Thousands of Arsenal supporters rose early, felt the adrenalin, but this being England under strict lockdown, rushed only as far as their laptops or smartphones.

They were chasing tickets, special ones. Arsenal’s will be the first Premier League stadium since March to host supporters in a competitive game on Thursday night, and though it may only be a Europa League match against Rapid Vienna in a group Arsenal have already qualified from, it is a breakthrough moment. Hence the rush to be first in the queue when the club website opened the race for the limited seats allowed at 9am last Saturday.

Because government easing of a ban on spectators was announced only late the previous week, there was no time for Arsenal to design a more sophisticated allocation system for the 2,000 paid seats allowed than first come, first served.

Even to get that many makes Arsenal luckier than some; London is deemed less at risk than many parts in England, so fans can attend matches in small numbers there but cannot in many parts of the north and midlands.

Players have almost universally welcomed an end to matches played out only to the sound of teammates, coaches, opponents and sometimes self-conscious radio commentators, but it may feel a little startling to them to suddenly hear passionate loyalists and critics again.

Two thousand people in a stadium with a capacity and acoustics for 60,000 - as Arsenal’s stadium has - will not vibrate to a constant thrum. But if the performance irritates, there will be enough groans in unison to be heard. And those lucky enough to have tickets will find it still quiet enough to hear the specific instructions coming from the technical areas.

Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, says he likes the idea of that close communion. “I want them [the fans] to see really closely what the team is trying to do,” says Arteta, who is in the curious position of having spent two thirds of his career so far as a senior head coach operating in emptied arenas.

He was only appointed late last December, and when he became one of the first high-profile figures in the sport to test positive for coronavirus, it signalled to the wider game that there would be no prospect of carrying on as normal.

After the long lockdown, behind-closed-doors football resumed for Premier League clubs in July. About Arteta, the novice manager, much would be learned thanks to the silence of the stadiums. Because there was no crowd noise, reporters, staff and TV viewers gained a sharper sense of how vocal, and clear, he is on the touchline.

And, indeed, how multilingual. For an Arsenal team made up, typically, of more footballers whose native language is French or Spanish than English, they have an ideal boss. Arteta, a Spaniard who grew up in the Basque Country and Catalonia and once a midfielder with Paris Saint-Germain, is fluent in many tongues.

He often selects the most appropriate one depending which player he is talking to. Eavesdroppers learnt during the summer resumption of football, when ‘cooling breaks’ were timetabled into matches, that Arteta speaks with clarity and purpose to his players, whatever the language.

His predecessors would be forgiven for thinking that a run of 30 matches without crowds present, the run Arteta is coming out of, might be a beneficial initiation for an Arsenal manager. A culture of hostility took hold at the handsome Emirates stadium during the later years of Arsene Wenger’s long reign, and it was shrill. Unai Emery, who succeeded Wenger and lasted a season and a half, heard the same tone.

So did Granit Xhaka when he was wearing the captain's armband. All big clubs have indignant, noisy fans, but Arsenal are the only club, in the last 14 months of Premier League football, whose skipper relinquished the armband because he swore at supporters who had been jeering him.

Xhaka has captained Arsenal again, since then, under Arteta, in the Europa League, behind-closed-doors. He redeemed his reputation to a degree, influential in a post-shutdown run that delivered an FA Cup triumph under the new manager. But the same frustrations that stirred the chants of ‘Wenger Out’ and chased Emery a year ago have not disappeared. Arteta’s team have lost more than they have won in the league so far in 2020-21.

They are 14th in the table, and their bad luck is that, on the first Premier League weekend with fans back, they must go to the home of the leaders.

Tottenham Hotspur are allowed 2,000 fans on Sunday, and they will certainly make themselves heard - because it’s Arsenal and it has been a while since the gap between the two rivals was quite so wide.