The Tim Spiers debrief – Arsenal 1 Wolves 1

Despite the late heartache, it was a performance to be proud of.

Guts

And it was a display that took guts, courage and strength of character.

Wolves arrived at the Emirates on the back of three successive defeats. Confidence will have been low and questions had been asked whether certain players were good enough, whether the formation still worked, whether Wolves needed a Plan B.

They’d played well at Brighton, they’d played well against Spurs, but lost both games.

Many teams would undoubtedly have rolled over against an Arsenal team of rich quality and on an unbeaten 14-game run.

But Wolves went the other way – they took the game to the Gunners, in a passive-aggressive manner that saw them sit deep and defend in big numbers, but also attack Arsenal at every opportunity.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s tactics were spot on.

Arsenal had almost 80 per cent possession in the first half yet it was Wolves who had amassed seven shots to their three (with the Gunners failing to register one on target) and could have had more to show for their efforts than a 1-0 lead.

Arsenal turned up the pressure after the break, but for all their possession in and around the Wolves box, Rui Patricio was only called upon twice to make important saves.

And Wolves continued to create chances. They were devastating on the counter in terms of creating opportunities and could even have scored twice after Arsenal’s late equaliser.

That late charge, too, showed guts. Again, many teams would have been too deflated after the 86th-minute equaliser but Wolves, with exuberant substitutes Adama Traore and Morgan Gibbs-White shining, went desperately close twice in injury time.

For their ballsy approach, their desire and their quality, they deserved to come away from North London with a memorable victory.

That they didn’t should take nothing away from this most heartening of performances.

Any doubts that have crept in after three successive defeats have been blown away by a timely and morale-boosting return to form.

Captain Coady

Yes, they created some great chances, but my goodness did they have to do some defending.

At the half-hour mark it already felt like the 95th minute, with bodies being thrown at shots left, right and centre.

It must be said that the midfield pairing of Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves were both below their best, registering low pass accuracy stats of around 80 per cent, a big drop on their usual levels.

There was a lot of frustration at Wolves inviting pressure onto themselves, especially in the second half, with some sloppy midfield play. Yes it was heartbreaking to concede so late but they really should have seen this one through.

The extra defending was meat and drink for Ryan Bennett and Conor Coady in particular, who were both outstanding and saved certain goals on a couple of occasions.

Bennett revelled in the ‘roll your sleeves up’ defending that was needed and produced more clearances than anyone on the field.

Coady led by example with another mature display that saw him sniff out danger on several occasions as well as produce perfect sliding tackles in the box and a couple of trademark rakes to the flanks.

Gareth Southgate couldn’t find room for Coady in his latest 28-man squad – surely the popular Liverpudlian can’t be far away from a call-up, even just to have a look at?

Michael Keane and Lewis Dunk are ahead of him in the pecking order, but if Coady can use this performance as the standard for the coming months, when March comes around he’ll have a great opportunity of overtaking them.

Assist king

Raul Jimenez is quickly making himself an indispensable cog in this Wolves machine.

He came up with his fifth assist of the season here (if you include when he was fouled for the first penalty against Spurs last week, which most stats websites have) and four of them have come from unselfish passes inside the box when many strikers would have chanced their arm with a shot.

His awareness is of a high standard and he could have teed another one up when an excellent right-wing cross found Diogo Jota, whose shot was saved by the sprawling Bernd Leno.

We all know he could do with being a bit more prolific in front of goal, but to be honest if he was netting 15 goals a season in the Premier League and laying on all those assists, he wouldn’t be playing for Wolves.

Many, many calls have been made for Wolves to sign a striker in January and Leo Bonatini’s non-appearance in the squad at the Emirates, despite his positive contribution from the bench last weekend, are another sign that Nuno is losing trust in the goal-shy Brazilian.

But if Wolves do sign a striker, it should be someone to provide competition for Jimenez and an alternative option from the bench. Not someone to replace him. That £30million option to buy him next summer looks less outlandish by the week.

Agonising

Morgan Gibbs-White caused quite a stir with his cameo against Spurs. He earned his own segment on Match of the Day and has been interviewed by Sky Sports and Football Focus among others last week, while Nuno’s pre-match press conference was half taken up by questions about the youngster.

Well imagine how in-demand he’d be if that 95th-minute curler was six inches lower.

It was a fantastic first-time hit from the teenager which epitomised his current confidence – but boy, was it agonising. In fact the tension was off the charts during the second half.

Gibbs-White and Adama Traore both made positive late contributions. Rob Holding had a five-yard headstart on Traore but the Spaniard tore past him and should have scored, a couple of minutes before Gibbs-White’s chance, which Traore himself set up.

After a few weeks of experimenting, it seems Nuno has found his formula for his four forwards – Traore is a wonderful talent but utilising his pace full-pelt in the closing minutes of a match seems like the best role for him.

That’s a bit odd for a club record £18m signing, but hey, Wolves can spare the cash.

Untimely break

After a performance like that, Wolves would love another game next weekend.

Sadly, they have two weeks to wait before they embark on a far more appetising run of fixtures.

From 12 games they’ve won four, drawn four and lost four. That’s without playing Newcastle, Cardiff, Huddersfield or Fulham, who until Saturday were the worst four teams in the league.

That all changes in the coming weeks – and if Wolves play like they did at the Emirates, they’ll fill their boots.

Final word

Star man: Conor Coady

The boss: Tactically spot on

Fans: The only ones singing

Magic moment: The full time ovation from the 3,000 travelling supporters was special

In a word: Ballsy

Picture perfect: