FULL-TIME REPORT: Wolves 1-4 Arsenal - Fabregas & Arshavin Goals Lift Gunners To 2nd

Arsenal have beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1 in their Premier League match at Molineux on Saturday evening, with Arsene Wenger’s side now moving up to 2nd place in the EPL with the win.

Wolves threatened throughout most of the first-half, but it was Arsenal who took the lead against the run-of-play after Ronald Zubar deflected a Cesc Fabregas corner into his own net.

It was another own-goal that doubled the score for Arsenal soon after, with Croatian striker Eduardo shooting slightly wide, but a nasty deflection off Jody Craddock sent the ball over Wayne Hennessey to make it 2-0, with Eduardo still claiming the goal.

Cesc Fabregas extended the score-line in injury-time in the first-half, with the Spaniard slotting home Arsenal's third to make it 3-0 before the break.

Andrey Arshavin scored Arsenal’s fourth goal midway through the second-half as Arsenal cruised to victory, while Jody Craddock scored a late consolation goal for Wolves.

The result takes The Gunners ahead of Manchester United in the English Premiership.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake started in attack for Wolves, with Nenad Milijas also getting a start after a superb show after coming off the bench in Wolves’ last match to set-up two goals in the 2-2 draw against Stoke City.

Arsenal were without goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who is still suffering with a thigh injury, defender Gael Clichy with a back injury, while strikers Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela and defender Armand Traore were all also out with groin injuries.

Robin van Persie started alongside Andrey Arshavin and De Silva Eduardo in attack for Arsene Wenger’s side, who now move up to 2nd place in the EPL with the win.

Both sides started the game brightly, with the home side looking up for the contest, and having the first attempt at goal, but Kevin Doyle’s shot from a Milijas corner was fairly tame and was headed off the line by Kieran Gibbs.

Wolves continued their pressure, and Arsenal’s William Gallas saw the first booking of the match after hauling down Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, with the Wolves striker heading just wide of Manuel Almunia’s goal from a corner seconds later.

Wolves had another excellent chance to open the scoring, but Christophe Berra failed to latch onto a perfectly weighted free-kick from Milijas, with Berra only having to beat Almunia from 6-yards, but the Scotsman managed to head over the crossbar.

Although Arsenal were passing well and shading the possession, Wolves were the side with all the attacks in the opening twenty-five minutes.

Alex Song replaced Abou Diaby in the 24th minute after Diaby suffered a knock, with the French midfielder suffering a calf injury in the process.

It wasn’t until the 28th minute that Arsenal actually managed to threaten, and from their first corner of the match, skipper Cesc Fabregas delivered the ball into the area, only for Ronald Zubar to knock the ball into his own net from 6-yards to make it 1-0 to Arsenal, completely against the run of play.

Arsenal grew more confident from the own-goal and things went from bad to worse for Wolves when, in the 35th minute, Arsenal caught the home side on the break, with Eduardo and Aaron Ramsey combining well.

Eduardo teed his shot-up from the edge of the penalty area, with his shot looking to be going slightly wide of goal, but a nasty deflection off lone defender Jody Craddock sent the ball over Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey and into the corner of the net to make it 2-0 to Arsenal.

Eduardo will no doubt claim the goal, but replays indicated that the ball was heading wide of the goalpost before the deflection off Craddock.

Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas extended The Gunners' lead in the first minute of injury-time, with the Spanish midfielder on the end of a trademark Arsenal counter attack to slide the ball past Hennessey at the near-post to make it 3-0.

The game went into half-time 3-0 to Arsenal, who are lucky to have weathered the early pressure from the home-side and especially to have a three-goal advantage at the break.

The second-half started slowly, with heavy rain coming down in the Midlands, and Wolves looking somewhat deflated, while Arsenal were on cruise control.

Michael Kightly replaced Segundo Castillo in the 65th minute as Wolves attempted to come back into the game, but Arsenal struck again a minute later, this time with Andrey Arshavin getting on the score-sheet.

The Russian received a clearance from a corner on the edge of the penalty area, slamming the ball first time past Hennessey to make it 4-0 to Arsenal.

Hennessey made an excellent save to deny Eduardo soon after while, at the other end, Serbian winger Milijas saw his free-kick ricochet off the Arsenal wall, with hints of a handball from Robin van Persie that went unnoticed.

Samir Nasri replaced Arshavin for the last fifteen minutes of the match, while Wolves made their second substitution of the match, replacing Milijas with Matthew Jarvis.

Wolves made another substutution in the 80th minute, when Michael Mancienne replaced David Edwards, but the game was down to a crawl in the final ten minutes.

Jody Craddock, scorer of one of the own-goals, managed to score a consolation goal in the 89th minute of the match, heading home a Matthew Jarvis cross to make it 4-1 on the night.

The game finished 4-1 to Arsenal, who should feel flattered by the result after Wolves pressed so hard in the opening period.

Arsenal now go above fellow Premier League rivals Manchester united in the league, with United facing Chelsea in their Premiership clash tomorrow afternoon.

Wolves remain in 17th place in the league, a position that belies their endeavour against Arsenal in the opening half.

Wolves v Arsenal Full Teamsheets:

Wolves Team: Hennessey, Stearman, Craddock, Berra, Zubar, Edwards (Mancienne, 80), Henry, Milijas (Jarvis, 74), Castillo (Kightly, 65), Ebanks-Blake, Doyle.

Wolves Substitutes Not Used: Hahnemann, Halford, Keogh, Maierhofer.

Arsenal Team: Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Gibbs, Diaby (Song Billong, 24), Fabregas, Ramsey, Arshavin (Nasri, 74), Eduardo (Rosicky, 71), van Persie.

Arsenal Substitutes Not Used: Mannone, Senderos, Silvestre, Eboue.