Analysing Helder Costa and Ryan Bennett – Wolves’ key players vs Arsenal
Wolves played out a credible 1-1 stalemate with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a fantastic Super Sunday Premier League encounter. Nuno Espirito Santo’s men led in the 13th minute through Ivan Cavaleiro, assisted by Raul Jimenez.
But the key was to stay ahead in the game for long periods of the game and frustrate the Gunners as much as possible. In the end, a slight bit of fortune went in the way of the home side, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s attempted cross bulged the net with Rui Patricio having no chance.
Despite conceding the equaliser and possibly dropping two points, the Old Gold should be a happy bunch to come away from the Emirates with a well-deserved point. They showed against Tottenham that they are a team capable of fighting until the last second of the game. Something similar was pretty evident on Sunday as well.
Nuno’s men were at it from the start and put Arsenal under pressure. They defended well for large parts of the game and threatened on the counter-attack with the frightening pace of Helder Costa terrifying the Gunners’ back-line. Ryan Bennett was the pick of the defenders, blunting the home team’s attacks at every given opportunity.
Hence, it is not overwhelming to say that Costa and Bennett were the key players for Wolves at the Emirates. Here’s an analysis of their performances along with some stats to support the facts:
Stats Analysis – Helder Costa and Ryan Bennett
Helder Costa’s pace on the counter was a constant menace for Unai Emery’s defenders. The Portuguese had a good chance in the first half, all created by himself, only for Bernd Leno to make a stunning save.
The 24-year-old had two shots on target, three successful dribbles, 18 passes at an accuracy of 75%, which is decent for a team which had just 28% possession throughout the game.
As for Ryan Bennett, he made two crucial blocks, one of them preventing Hector Bellerin from finding the top corner. The Englishman produced three moments of great defensive interceptions, showing his abilities as an intelligent game-reader.
He won six of the seven duels, a great return for a defender under pressure for most of the game. To add the cherry to the cake, he supplied one key pass on goal.
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A special word for Wolves captain Conor Coady, who blocked a certain goal-bound shot from Alexandre Lacazette. However, the way Bennett and Costa performed their roles in a tough game, it required significant prominence of this type.
Stats Courtesy – Sofascore.com