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FRIDAY | FEB 20, 2026

Malaysian Paper

Aruwin finishes 4th in women’s slalom - Story on page 31

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Premier League title race

Story on page 30

Gunners implode Arteta admits Arsenal only have themselves to blame after Wolves draw

A RSENAL BOSS Mikel Arteta admit ted his team have only got them selves to blame after surrendering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with rock bottom Wolves at Molineux. Bukayo Saka netted his fifth goal of the season to give Arsenal an early lead and they doubled their advantage 11 minutes into the second half through Piero Hincapie’s first goal for the club which put the Gunners in a commanding position. Hugo Bueno’s sensational strike halved the deficit just after the hour mark, and they left it late to strike doubt into Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes when Tom Edozie climbed off the bench to score the equaliser on his debut. Arsenal are now only five points ahead of Manchester City having played a game more and have now won just two of their last seven League matches. Gunners boss Arteta insists his team were nowhere near their best and have to look at themselves for dropping points once again. “Extremely disappointed obviously with

Tottenham and Chelsea to follow, the Gunners find themselves under a cloud of uncertainty and whether their title dream will turn into another nightmare. A trip to second-placed Manchester City will be one of their remaining 11 games and Arteta and his squad will have to finally show they can deal with the pressure in the title run-in. Wolves boss Rob Edwards saw his side pick up a second successive draw and was proud of the belief his side showed to gain an unlikely point. “It’s nice to get a late equaliser and espe cially when you’re 2-0 down against a team like that. We’re up against Arsenal, everyone needs to have a bit of perspective. In the first 20-30 mins it was everything we expected the game to be like. “We stayed in the game and that was important. We showed belief and played with a bit more emotion. To show that character and quality and all of that. It might be easier for the lads to lose belief but that’s not the case.” – The Independent/Agencies

He added: “That’s credit obviously to Wolves, they can’t be underestimated. “It’s very basic things and simple things that today we did really wrong and that’s why we had the feeling without conceding much, when the game is open that kind of thing can happen. “Any question, criticism, opinion, you have to take it on the chin today. That’s it. Any bullet, take it because we didn’t perform at the level required. “Anything anybody says can be right because we didn’t do what we had to do. The way to do it is on the pitch on Sunday in another great opportunity we have. “We have always done it but if you are strong you need to show it next time. To say it here is simple but we have to show it on the pitch.” This was meant to be a routine win against the League’s bottom club – one Arsenal had beaten nine successive times since 2021 and scored against for a 37th time on the trot in all competitions. With games against London rivals

the result and with the way the game ended but we have to blame ourselves,” Arteta said. “The performance in the second half we didn’t show anything close to the standards required in this League to win. “It’s a moment of disappointment, we want to talk a lot about how we’re feeling but it’s not the moment to do that. “When you are at this level and at the top you need to take the hit, today we deserved. On Sunday we have a big game coming up. “It was one moment after another moment after another moment. Even though we scored the second goal we never had dominance of the game that’s the reality.” Arsenal have held leads in each of the last three title races but have gone on to finish second in each season, and yesterday’s draw may have brought up bad memories that they may once again come second after relin quishing a lead. Arteta says his team have to accept every criticism that comes their way and need to bounce back against Tottenham on Sunday (Mon 12.30am Malaysian time).

Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori (front) reacts in dismay after scoring an own goal during yesterday’s English Premier League match against Wolves at Molineux. – REUTERSPIC

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