Arsenal’s failings were cruelly exposed as their Champions League ambitions suffered a painful blow with a 3-1 defeat at Wolves on Wednesday.
Ruben Neves, Matt Doherty and the outstanding Diogo Jota scored the goals that condemned Unai Emery’s side to defeat and dented their hopes of a top-four finish.
But for all Wolves’ impressive play in a devastating spell at the end of the first half, Arsenal were architects of their own downfall with poor defending, sloppy passing and dreadful goalkeeping from Bernd Leno.
The goalkeeper was beaten by Doherty in the air for the second goal before allowing Jota’s low shot to squirm under his body for the third.
He had already been beaten by Neves’s fine free-kick for the opener, with Sokratis’s late header for Arsenal proving no more than a consolation.
And Emery was left to ponder more away-day woes for the Gunners and a sign that some of the fragility that haunted former manager Arsene Wenger has not been cured.
Having looked comfortable in the early exchanges, the Gunners simply wilted once Wolves piled on pressure at the end of the opening half and a catalogue of errors left the visitors 3-0 down at half-time with no way back.