Riccardo Calafiori’s second-half winner made sure Arsenal kept pace with Liverpool in the title race, as the Gunners recovered from Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial red card to beat Wolves 1-0 at Molineux.

The Italian defender tucked home from inside the box with just over 15 minutes to go in a boost for the Gunners – after Lewis-Skelly’s contentious sending off threatened to damage their title challenge even further.

With Wolves on the break after defending an Arsenal corner, Lewis-Skelly felled Matt Doherty and referee Michael Oliver felt he had caught the Wolves defender high on his leg in serious foul play.

“From the bench, it was clearly not a red card,” said matchwinner Calafiori to Sky Sports. “I saw him at half-time he was so disappointed for the team. But at the end, we won. So nothing happened.

“He was upset, but now he’s happy because we won for sure. He’s a good footballer, a good guy, so we help him a lot.”

“I cannot believe Michael Oliver has sent Lewis-Skelly off there,” said Soccer Saturday’s Tim Sherwood, as VAR agreed with the call. “You can see why he’s been sent off,” added Mike Dean on Sky Sports.

The second half threatened to expose Arsenal’s big problems this season – firepower and ill-discipline. Kai Havertz missed three big chances in the penalty box – two before Lewis-Skelly’s red card and one when it was 10 vs 11.

At the other end, Arsenal-linked forward Matheus Cunha’s deflected strike was well-saved by David Raya, with the same Wolves striker miskicking an effort wide from the resulting corner.

But the game had another twist as Joao Gomes earned himself a second yellow card for a high challenge on Jurrien Timber at the edge of the Arsenal box. Wolves boss Vitor Pereira was livid on the touchline with his midfielder and he knew why – four minutes later, Arsenal got their winner.

Wolves tried to get back into the game with 10 vs 10 as Raya Ait-Nouri ran clear but Raya held his effort, while Cunha tested the Arsenal goalkeeper from distance. But Arsenal held on to stay six points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, who beat Ipswich 4-0.