If yesterday was supposed to be about how many goals Robin van Persie would plunder in his quest to enter the record books, nobody told Wayne Hennessey.

This morning all the headlines deservedly belong to the giant Welshman after a quite remarkable performance to repel the Arsenal onslaught.

Wenger reckons they’d have won this game 19 times out 20, but surely if our goalkeeper had played this well in all of those matches Professor Football should rethink his figures?

Another poor decision to deal with

Wayne will deservedly scoop all the plaudits, but the rest of the team also warrant a substantial slab of credit too.

Maintaining a shape, defending your 18-yard box and not allowing such slinky opposition to simply walk the ball in is a tough ask, particularly away from home. That type of stubborn discipline often gets overlooked, but it’s a skill in itself.

By the end, Arsenal were effectively playing into our hands by throwing crosses into the box for the likes of Berra and Johnson to gobble up, which is testament to the work we’d done up to that point.

The center of midfield, so often criticised for being wide open were phenomenal defensively. Henry made a string of fine interceptions and tackles to cut out killer passes, whilst Milijas once again dispelled the myth that he’s lazy when the opposition have the ball.

To see the Serbian dismissed with 20 minutes to go was both cruel and unjust. Quite what the referee saw in the tackle I’ll never know, but the game had certainly been bubbling towards a flash point for a while. To me the man in the middle simply failed to keep tempers in check.

Fortunately, it didn’t cost us and the injustice only served to make point gained all the more satisfying, not least when you consider we’d lost to Arsenal in all 6 of our previous Premier League meetings.

Speaking of satisfaction, what about another goal for Fletch? His superb reaction header just before half-time means he’s now scored goals at Anfield, Old Trafford and the Emirates this season – not too shabby when you consider he probably only had one decent chance in all of those games.

Once again the Scot was largely anonymous, left isolated by the formation and dominance of the home side, but yet he still managed to gobble up the only half chance that came his way to level the scores.

Keeping him fit will likely be the difference between survival and relegation.

A word too for Roger Johnson. There were moments where he wobbled, particularly in the first half, but as the game wore on his influence grew and the skipper made vital blocks and clearances to keep the scores level. That’s what we paid the money for.

Finally, well done Anthony Forde.

The youngster slotted in seamlessly down the right, looked neat and tidy on the ball and didn’t put a foot wrong throughout. He also looked confident and skilful in possession so I’ll look forward to seeing what he can do against lesser opposition.

Indeed it was wholly appropriate that Mick finally gave youth a chance on the big stage, on a day that unquestionably belonged to another academy graduate.

Thanks Wayne.

If anyone really thought Arsenal would slink back into midtable after an uncomfortable summer, they’ve seemingly been proven wrong.

At this precise moment, the Gunners sit just outside the top four having already made it through to the last 16 of this season’s Champions League.

Battered 2-0 last season

That’s a pretty impressive feat, when you consider the players that have left, the injuries they’ve had to contend with and the relatively meager amount Wenger spent in the summer to plug the holes.

With back-to-back home games against Wolves and QPR things promise to get even better for the Londoners as they reach the halfway point in the season.

In particular, they’ll be licking their lips about tomorrow’s game against a struggling side they’ve beaten in each of their last 6 Premier League matches.

Yes, whilst Wolves have been able to upset City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs since returning to the top division, Arsenal have been a tougher nut to crack.

We came agonisingly close to taking a point from the Emirates two years ago and probably should have got a draw in last season’s home match.

That said, we were soundly thumped by them 2-0 back in February in one of the most one-sided matches I’ve ever seen. Robin van Persie scored both goals that day and if the Dutchman is in the mood again tomorrow, our prospects will be decidedly bleak.

The Team

I have no idea what Mick will do tomorrow and I have no idea what I’d do either. Play 442 and we’re likely to be carved open at will, play 451 and they’ll camp inside our half and probably pick us off. It’s a tricky one.

This is my guess at the starting XI:

Hennessey, Zubar, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Henry, Milijas, Edwards, Hunt, Jarvis, Fletcher

So that’s Dave Edwards straight back in for his work-rate, with SEB dropping out to leave Fletch as the lone forward.

Prediction League

5 of you correctly predicted the Norwich game would end in a draw with 3 also getting the 2-2 scoreline.

Well done to Louie, Ad Mant and Rich for getting the maximum. Ask K and Stourbridge Wolf take a single point.

Logically, I really can’t see a way we’ll take anything from this match.

However, purely because we’re due a result against Arsenal and you normally achieve at least one upset a year, I’ll go for the most unlikely of Wolves wins.

2-1 to the old gold.

If you’re one of those dedicated souls making the trip down to London tomorrow, have a great time and get right behind the lads.

Up The Wolves.

The 93rd minute of this match perfectly encapsulated what the previous 92 had been about.

In those dramatic final moments, Fabianski performed a minor miracle in keeping out Christophe Berra’s rasping low drive, before bowling the ball half the length of the pitch to setup Marouane Chamakh to coolly slot home the killer second goal.

The early goal was a massive setback for Wolves

It was typical of Wolves’ efforts up to that point; an endless abundance of spirit and no short amount of quality, but ultimately not quite enough to breakthrough.

We can talk about bad luck, bad decisions and bad Arsenal all we want, but it won’t change the fact we got nothing. Again.

And despite all of the above, I feel we were very much architects of our own downfall. A sluggish start saw us a goal down inside a minute and by the time we eventually got a foothold in the match, Arshavin had already wasted copious opportunities to end the contest.

Mick’s starting eleven also had me baffled. Dropping Hunt, bringing Mancienne in and moving Edwards out of the advanced midfield role he’s filled so effectively was a strange decision.

We also had Jarvis tucked inside for some reason, taking away the width that has been our greatest attacking weapon in recent weeks. Couldn’t understand that.

Still, once Edwards had limped off, Hunt restored better shape and balance to the side; enjoying his most effective game in a gold shirt. In fact, it was his introduction that seemed to spark life into our performance.

We dominated the remainder of the first half and only quick-feet and a superb adjustment from Fabianski prevented Hunt from heading in a deflected cross that dropped just under the bar.

Arsenal came close to killing the game off in the second half with only the post and a superb goal-line clearance from Henry keeping the score down to one. Had they done so, it would have been significantly against the run of play, as Wolves had dominated the ball throughout.

I thought Milijas in particular was different class. He won the battle of the midfield-maestros with Fabregas and constantly picked out incisive passes to move us forward. In the kind of form he’s in at the moment, he looks as good as anyone and I don’t just mean at Wolves.

At the back, I’d like to give a special mention to Berra, who I thought was absolutely superb. I’ve heard a lot of negativity directed towards the Scot, but the improvement in his game has been huge. He certainly deserves more credit than he’s getting and I think the impact he has on games is taken for granted.

Doyle again worked tirelessly, but when the moment finally came to reward his industry with a deserved goal, his shot whistled agonisingly passed the far post. I don’t want to be critical of our superhuman lone forward, but from that position he needs to be tucking those chances away. The margins between defeat and precious points are too thin to waste such openings.

And whilst we’re talking about thin margins, surely Fabregas should have been dismissed. Not only was his mistimed, studs-up challenge on Ward worthy of a straight red, his conduct throughout was nothing short of a disgrace. Kicking the ball away, demanding players get booked and generally whining to the officials were all actions that warranted yellow cards, but for some reason, the referee turned a blind eye. Respect campaign? You’re having a laugh.

Last season, Fabregas came down to Molineux, bossed the game and looked every bit a world class midfielder. Last night, he was a disgrace and the fact he ended up on the winning side makes his petulance even harder to swallow.

Moving on from the cruel nature of the last two defeats will be hard, but with a run of seven games up to Christmas that are all winnable, we must do so.

This is a make or break period.

And we can’t afford anymore ‘played well, but lost’ headlines.