Midfielder Joao Moutinho was stuck in the shadow of his opposite number last night as Wolves suffered a late defeat.
Whilst Wolves are still well in the hunt for some form of European football, their 2-1 loss was a serious blow to their chances of finishing in the top four this season.
And whilst there will be a number of people that can take the blame for the result, such as goalkeeper Jose Sa, whose diversion when Alexandre Lacazette’s cross was heading wide ultimately put the ball into the back of the net for the Gunners’ late winner, some of it should perhaps be placed at the feet of 35-year-old Moutinho, in particular as he was shown up by Thomas Partey across from him in midfield.
Here, we look at the battle in midfield, assessing how the Portuguese playmaker fell short on the night and ultimately played a big role in costing Wolves the game as he came up against an imperious Partey on Thursday night:
Joao Moutinho
Do Wolves need to replace Joao Moutinho this summer?
Yes
No
Usually a key part in how Wolves set up, with Moutinho averaging 50.4 passes per game (third amongst Wolves players), completing 86.2% of them (fifth-best) and leading them in key passes with 1.2 per game alongside Raul Jimenez and Daniel Podence (via WhoScored), last night was the definition of an off-night for him.
As per SofaScore, he only managed to complete 77% of his passes, failed to make a single key pass, couldn’t complete a single cross, only managed to complete one of his three long balls and couldn’t manage to get his lone shot on target, whilst also giving the ball away 17 times.
In defence, he wasn’t much better either, as he failed to make a single tackle, only made one interception and won just 33% of his ground duels.
Thomas Partey
Compare Moutinho’s display to the Ghanaian’s in the middle of the park for Arsenal, who was much more effective in controlling the game for the Gunners, and you see a very different story.
As per SofaScore, he completed 89% of his passes, whilst making a total of three key passes, and was successful with five of his six long balls. Elsewhere, he put up a lot more of a fight in defence, winning 6 of his 10 ground duels on top of his one tackle.
It’s that sort of control of the game that Wolves could have done with rather than resorting to time-wasting during large parts of the second half.
TIF Verdict on Joao Moutinho’s performance for Wolves…
Whilst Moutinho has shown his effectiveness to Wolves so far this season as demonstrated above, there are the odd few games like this that will surely frustrate fans, with consistency key at this level.
It’s clear to see that Partey made things difficult for Moutinho and Wolves in the centre of midfield last night, gaining the upper hand in most departments. And, he was gifted an impressive 8/10 from the Standard, which suggests the Portuguese ace was thoroughly outclassed at the Emirates Stadium in midweek.
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