Arsenal vs. Wolves: 5 Things We Learned in the Gunners' Emirates Draw

Arsenal and Wolves drew 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League, and here, we take a look at five things the match taught us.

The home side took an early advantage thanks to a Gervinho strike, but Steven Fletcher scored an equaliser in the first half to take a share of the spoils for the away team, even though they saw Nenad Milijas sent off late on.

Wayne Hennessey was in fine form to deny Per Mertesacker, Robin van Persie and Thomas Vermaelen, amongst others, as the Welshman picked up a Man of the Match award to help his team cling on to an unlikely point.

Arsenal Fail to Capitalise on Chelsea and Liverpool Dropping Points at Home

Chelsea were held at home by Fulham, Liverpool failed to do anything more than draw at Anfield against Blackburn Rovers—and now, Arsenal made it a trio of Champions League-chasing sides held to 1-1 by perceived weaker opposition, as they only took a point at home to Wolves.

Had Arsenal won, they would have leapfrogged the Blues into fourth place, but they remain now a point behind Andre Villas-Boas' side and just two points ahead of Liverpool in sixth.

Arsene Wenger will have desperately wanted to take maximum points from this game, having seen both teams drop points the day before Arsenal's game, and he will be extremely frustrated that his side could not hold onto a lead or regain it, even after Wolves went down to 10 men.

Emirates Stadium Home Crowd Not Helping Their Team?

Maybe Arsenal fans had it too good in the late 90's and early 00's?

After an open start to the game between the Gunners and Wolves, the crowd barely even flickered into life when Gervinho opened the scoring after seven minutes, mustering just a moment or two of applause and cheering instead of the huge roar of celebrations generally associated with a Premier League goal.

Perhaps they just expected it to be the start of a comfortable victory?

In any case, they started as they meant to go on, judging by the sounds, or lack of them, coming from the stands for the rest of the game.

A howl of anger for Nenad Milijas' rash tackle probably contributed towards the referee's decision to bring out the red card, but beyond that, about the only sounds heard were groans of frustration when the ball was given away, and then, remarkably, even a few boos at the full-time whistle.

Wolves Take Unlikely, but Important, Points

With just five points separating mid-table safety in 13th position and relegation with 18th position in the Premier League table, every single point garnered is precious to those under-pressure Premiership bosses at the moment.

Wolves would not really have been expected to pick up anything from their match against Arsenal, but the 1-1 draw lifted them above QPR into 16th place, at least for an hour or two. More importantly, it opened the gap between themselves and Wigan (in 18th) to two points.

Not a huge jump, and not a massive return of points lately for Wolves, who have now taken five points from their last seven games, but on a match-week where six of the bottom eight teams in the table took something from their games, this could turn out to be a huge point for Wolves in the long run—even if it doesn't mean anything to their league placing in the immediate aftermath of the match itself.

Yossi Benayoun and Tomas Rosicky Give Arsene Wenger Team Selection Problems

Yossi Benayoun made his first league start for Arsenal, while Tomas Rosicky came into the team for a rare Premiership start—and between the two of them, they showed great inventiveness and creativity in creating plenty of chances in attack for the Gunners.

Benayoun has been mostly substitute since his loan move from Chelsea, but showed his good movement and eye for a pass in the first 45 minutes, while Rosicky excelled in the central role when space was afforded to him in the second period.

With Theo Walcott missing and Aaron Ramsey on the bench, a different mode of attack was called for with Arsenal, and neither of the veteran creators let Wenger down with good displays.

Now, Wenger will need to decide whether either of them can stay in the team for the next game or whether immediate recalls will be handed to Ramsey and Walcott—and with them, a change in team shape.

Robin Van Persie Fires a Blank; One Game Left to Set New Premier League Record

Robin van Persie showed his usual desirable mix of strength, endeavour, skill and dynamism during the match against Wolves but, unusually, came off second best against the goalkeeper on this occasion.

Wayne Hennessey repelled almost everything that van Persie could throw at him, and his defenders helped out with the rest with a series of tackles and blocks.

A free kick was palmed over, a low shot luckily stopped with a leg and a driven effort palmed wide—but the flying Dutchman could not find that goal he needed to beat Thierry Henry's Arsenal record of 35 Premier League goals in a single calendar year.

Should he net against Queens Park Rangers on New Year's Eve, he will indeed break that record, and he will have a hat trick in his sights. That would place him on 37 goals for 2011, setting a new Premier League record in the process, currently held by Alan Shearer with 36.