Gary Neville sends ‘danger’ warning to Arsenal after nervy win over Wolves

Manchester United legend Gary Neville says Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side need to ‘wake up’ or they will find themselves in ‘danger’ of quickly surrendering their lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal had looked on course for a regulation 1-0 win over lowly Wolves after Bukayo Saka’s corner went in off goalkeeper Sam Johnstone with 20 minutes remaining at the Emirates.

But there was a late scare for the Gunners as Tolu Arokodare headed Mateus Mane’s pinpoint cross beyond David Raya to equalise in the 90th minute, the Nigerian’s first ever goal in the English top flight.

The hosts dug deep and were rewarded for their efforts just four minutes later, though, with Yerson Mosquera nodding the ball into his own net to ensure Wolves’ miserable run continued.

The nervy 2-1 win saw top-of-the-table Arsenal restore their five-point lead at the summit after 16 games. However, Manchester City closed the gap to two points again with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

There may have been a feeling of deja vu amongst Arsenal fans before Mosquera’s last-gasp own goal, with the north Londoners having dropped points in three of their previous five contests heading into the fixture.

And while Arteta will no doubt be relieved to have come away with maximum points, Neville believes the Spaniard would have been within his rights to give his players ‘a little bit of a telling off’ in the dressing room.

Asked whether Arsenal should focus on the fact they got the job done or that it proved so tricky, Neville told NBC Sports: ‘A bit of both.

‘If you’re getting into the changing room after the game, I think you’re probably getting a little bit of a telling off from your coach, saying basically, “That’s not good enough and you need to step your level of performance up because if you play like that too many times then you won’t win this league”.

‘On the other hand, part of you is saying that you’re going to have performances and moments like this during the season and it’s not all going to plain sailing.’

The former England right-back added: ‘It’s a little bit of both but if I was in the dressing room I’d be giving myself a little bit of a slap around the face and saying, “Wake up, come on! We’re going to be in danger if we carry on playing at this level”.

‘There has been a little bit of a dip for Arsenal in terms of performance.

‘But it was important that they did get those three points, that is vital.’

Metro at the Match: Crystal Palace 0-3 Man City

Pino wasteful in front of goal

Yeremy Pino will be frustrated with himself for missing a brilliant chance in the first half, hitting the crossbar when through on goal. The Spain international had other openings as well and is clearly not the best finisher. He is lively, tricky and fast, but needs to sharpen up in front of goal.

Wharton needs to add goals to his game

England international Adam Wharton is superb at pinging the ball about in midfield but is still yet to score a goal for Crystal Palace. He has such technical quality, he should be getting on the scoresheet and could make the difference in tight games. He hit the post in the first half with a well struck effort, while he completely fluffed a half chance on his left foot after the break.

Guehi looked an impressive match for Man City’s monster

Erling Haaland scored the opener, but whenever Marc Guehi came up against the behemoth he handled him really well. The England defender is likely to get a big move in 2026 and he showed here that he can deal with the world’s best. Not too many can match up to the Norwegian in a physical contest at close range, but Guehi did so admirably. Maxence Lacroix was also good in this sense.

Crystal Palace player ratings: Henderson 6, Richards 6, Lacroix 6, Guehi 7, Clyne 6, Wharton 6, Kamada 6, Mitchell 6, Sarr 5, Pino 5, Mateta 4

Subs: Nketiah 4, Hughes 6, Uche 4

Haaland ruthlessly efficient yet again

The three Crystal Palace centre-backs did pretty well against the giant Norwegian, but not well enough. The prolific striker escaped Chris Richards by a yard to have the space to head home the opener. He only needs one chance and he takes it. He took his second from the spot. 102 goals for Manchester City.

Matheus Nunes has become a hit at right-back

When the Portugal international first moved to right-back from midfield he was very unconvincing but he has developed impressively and is now a regular there. Defensively he is still not the best, but solid enough, while he clearly brings a lot of quality going forward from that position. His cross for Haaland’s opener was fantastic.

Foden lethal from the edge of the box

Any goalkeeper seeing Phil Foden with space on the edge of the penalty area will be fearing the worst. The 25-year-old feels inevitable from 20 yards and was so again today. How he was given so much space in the D is a question that the Palace midfielders will need to answer. His developing partnership with Rayan Cherki must be very exciting for City fans.

Man City player ratings: Donnarumma 8, Nunes 8, Dias 7, Gvardiol 7, O’Reilly 8, Silva 7, Gonzalez 7, Reijnders 6, Cherki 8, Foden 8, Haaland 8

Subs: Savinho 6, Ait-Nouri N/A, Lewis N/A, Marmoush N/A

Speaking to TNT Sports shortly after the final whistle, Arteta admitted Arsenal were overly ‘passive’ at times against Wolves and his players’ second-half display was ‘not acceptable’.

‘In the second half we did that a bit better and scored the goal,’ he said.

‘And then we had a period of three minutes deep, so passive, really poor defensive habits.

‘Not acceptable for our level, because we hadn’t conceded a single shot until that point. The first time they did it, they scored a goal, and that’s the Premier League.

‘In the end, you rely on one individual action, one chaotic action, to win the game, and the margins should have been better.

‘We created a lot of situations without picking the right player in the final pass.

‘We had overloads in the box and we hit the first man. It’s not the standards that we need.’

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