Awayday blues for Gunners again as Wolves home in on Europe

Arsenal’s away form remains their Achilles heel in their challenge for a top-four finish in the Premier League after they were put to the sword by Wolves. A draw would have been enough for the Gunners to go above Chelsea and take the last Champions League spot but first-half goals from Ruben Neves, Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota set Wolves on their way to a 3-1 win.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos headed a reply late on but Unai Emery’s side have won just six times on the road this season and still face tricky trips to Leicester and Burnley.

Arsenal became the latest of the division’s top-six clubs to taste defeat at Molineux, where Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have also been beaten this season.

The victory enhanced Wolves’ own chances of securing European football for next season as they moved back into seventh place – which will be enough for a Europa League spot should Manchester City win next month’s FA Cup final against Watford.

Arsenal made a confident start, but the hosts began to cause Arsenal problems on the break and went ahead in the 28th minute, Neves scoring from a free-kick.

Wolves doubled their lead in the 37th minute when Doherty glanced his header into an unguarded goal and went further ahead eight minutes later when Jota skipped past Sokratis and strode into the penalty area, where his low shot was too hard for Leno and squirmed beneath the goalkeeper and into the net.

Things should have got even better for Wolves at the start of the second half following another counter-attack but Jota, unmarked at the far post 12 yards out, was unable to control Raul Jimenez’s cross.

Arsenal looked short of ideas but managed a consolation goal with 10 minutes remaining when Sokratis headed in Granit Xhaka’s corner at the far post.