A second-half brace from Martin Odegaard saw us beat Wolves and move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table going into the World Cup break.
Our skipper struck twice after the restart to ensure we claimed the victory we fully deserved for a dominant display at Molineux, which means we have now won three consecutive league games without conceding for the first time since July 2020.
Stalemate at the break
The opening half-an-hour belonged to us, as we carved open some decent half-chances without managing to get on the scoresheet. Gabriel Jesus had the ball in the net just five minutes in but had strayed offside, and a deflected Bukayo Saka cross caused Jose Sa to scramble the ball over his crossbar.
But we suffered a setback when Granit Xhaka was forced off after just 15 minutes, and Wolves nearly capitalised during a period of reorganisation when a swift counter saw Adama Traore feed Goncalo Guedes who was a whisker away from drilling into the top corner.
However we settled again and Jesus glanced a header just wide from an Oleksandr Zinchenko cross, before the Brazilian clipped the crossbar being being played in by Saka, cutting inside on his right foot and taking aim.
Despite our dominance, the game remained on a knife-edge and the team in old gold had a golden opportunity to take the lead into the interval when Guedes pounced onto a William Saliba backpass and looked destined to score, but a brilliant sliding block by Gabriel bailed out his defensive partner.
Odegaard at the double
It looked as though the first goal would be crucial, and thankfully for us, we grabbed it 10 minutes into the second half with a well-worked move. Gabriel Martinelli picked the ball up centrally and fed his international colleague Jesus, who knocked it to Fabio Vieira inside the box. He managed to commit Sa and dink the ball inviting across the box, where Odegaard was on hand to tap home.
That saw us take a lead that we merited, and we nearly managed to double it soon after when Martinelli saw an effort from a tight angle cause Sa some issues, but with 15 minutes to go our skipper managed to get his and our second to put us in firm control.
The attack began with Martinelli winning the ball in Wolves’ right-back spot, and finding Zinchenko who saw a dangerous low ball repelled back in Martinelli’s path. His low shot was saved by the feet of Sa, but Odegaard drilled home the rebound to register his sixth of the campaign.
In their final game under the caretaker control of Steve Davis, the hosts pushed right until the end to try and pull themselves back into the contest and Daniel Podence went so close to scoring a bicycle kick after teeing himself up, but we held firm to sign off before the World Cup in perfect fashion.
Facts and stats
We have scored in each of our last 30 meetings with Wolves in all competitions, since a 1-0 loss in February 1979. Only against West Bromwich Albion (32) are we currently on a longer scoring streak in all competitions.
Our five-point lead is the largest we have had at the top of the Premier League since December 13, 2013.
Wolves will be bottom of the Premier League table on Christmas Day for the first time since the 2003/04 campaign, a season in which they finished bottom and were relegated.
We will sit top of the Premier League table on Christmas Day for the first time since the 2007/08 campaign, a season in which we ultimately finished third.
Wolves have won just two of their last 22 Premier League games (D6 L14), failing to score in 11 matches during this run.
We are the only side to have scored in every Premier League game this season, while we've also got the joint-fewest goals conceded (11) and joint-most clean sheets so far this term (7).
We have kept as many clean sheets away from home this season (6) as we did in the entirety of 2021/22.
Martin Odegaard is our top Premier League goalscorer this season (6 goals), while only Kevin De Bruyne, James Maddison and Leandro Trossard (6 each) have been involved in more away goals in the competition this season than our captain (5 – 4 goals, 1 assist).
What’s next
We now have to wait 44 days for our next league fixture, when West Ham United head to Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day following the World Cup, before 2022 is rounded off with a New Year’s Eve trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.
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