Tolu Arokodare admitted it felt all too familiar at the Emirates on Saturday night as Wolves once again saw points slip away late in the game.
The Nigerian forward had just scored his first Premier League goal after coming off the bench against league leaders Arsenal, heading home in the 90th minute to seemingly secure a hard-earned and deserved point for Wolves. But that moment of celebration was short-lived.
Three minutes into stoppage time, a second own goal of the match proved decisive, crushing Wolves’ hopes and leaving Arokodare visibly disappointed at the final whistle.
Reflecting on the late setback, Arokodare said the pattern has become painfully repetitive.
“It’s hurtful. It’s been happening to us the whole season,” he said. “We played the whole 90 minutes very well, and at the end we always concede. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s just very hurtful.
“It’s not the first time we’ve conceded in the last minute. It’s something we have to work on – staying focused until the last whistle. It’s very unlucky for us. It was a good goal from them, and I’d say a little bit of poor defending from us.”
Despite the frustration, the striker insisted there were positives to take from the performance against the team top of the table.
“We played against the best team in the league,” he said. “They’re first, and their first goal came from a corner – very lucky. We came back into the game, and then again they scored late.
“There are a lot of positives to take. We focus on the good, not the bad. Now we go to play Brentford, and hopefully we get the win.”
On a personal note, Arokodare acknowledged the importance of his first Premier League goal but stressed the team must be more clinical overall.
“We obviously have to score more,” he said. “We haven’t scored a lot of goals in the last few games, and it’s something we’ve been working on.
“We had a couple of chances in the second half. We have the quality to score, but we haven’t been lucky, attacking or defending. Hopefully in the coming games we score more goals and everything will change.”