Mikel Arteta says Arsenal sticking together after Wolves draw dents title hopes
By Sunny Badwal, Press Association
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insists it is time for his camp to stick together after the Gunners hit another stumbling block in their bid to win the Premier League title by drawing 2-2 at Wolves.
It seemed like Arsenal were on their way to a routine victory after Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie gave the league leaders a two-goal lead but Wolves fought back through Hugo Bueno and Tom Edozie to send Arsenal home with new doubt.
It left Arsenal’s title hopes hanging in the balance after they surrendered a lead for a second straight game – following their draw with Brentford – and they have now won just twice in their last seven league games.
Manchester City twice chased Arsenal down to win the title in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, and history could repeat itself again this campaign as Pep Guardiola’s side sit five points behind Arsenal with a game in hand, with a meeting between the two sides to take place in April.
Arteta said it is time for him to stick with his players.
He said: “I’m going to be the first one to be close with them (the players) because it has nothing to do with attitude or desire, it is completely the opposite.
“It’s part of football. Where it could’ve gone wrong today, it went wrong. If you look at the way we conceded the two goals today without conceding any other situations, it is very rare but it happens. And it happened for a reason and we need to react.
“If you are at the top you have to win and win, that’s nothing new.”
Arsenal visit neighbours Tottenham on Sunday in their next Premier League outing.
A stoppage time equaliser from @Wolves means @Arsenal go five points clear at the top instead of a possible seven 📊 pic.twitter.com/HNUtSsLfXR
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 19, 2026
Spurs will have new boss Igor Tudor in the dugout, but Arteta says his team need to take the hurt from Molineux into the north London derby.
He added: “We need to go through the pain and go through it looking in the mirror and understand what the game requires now and the next action is Sunday. We need to keep all that in our tummies to show it on Sunday.”
Saka celebrated a new five-year deal with his first league goal of 2026, and his first in 11 matches.
It was not enough to earn his side three points but he says the Gunners are still in control of their own destiny.
He told Arsenal.com: “It’s pretty flat. We’re pretty disappointed with the result, it’s the only way to describe it.
“I think it’s a game of two halves. In the first half, we started so wel,l but in the second half we dropped the level and got punished for it.”
“It was already a big game, and now it’s still a big game,” Saka added about the upcoming derby clash. “We just know these last few games that we have left, we need to win.
“It’s still in our control so we just need to focus on that, fix the issues we’re having now and get back to winning ways.”
