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London, February 25: Nicolas Pepe came off the bench to spark a dramatic late turnaround as Arsenal overcame Premier League top-four rivals Wolves 2-1 in a thrilling encounter.

Hwang Hee-chan pounced on an error from Gabriel Magalhaes to end a 10-game barren run and put Wolves on top in a fiery encounter at Emirates Stadium on Thursday.

The visitors quickly shifted their focus to defence but substitute Nicolas Pepe eventually found a way past goalkeeper Jose Sa in the 82nd minute.

Pepe then teed up Alexandre Lacazette to force the winner, which went down as an own goal by Jose Sa, to spark jubilant scenes among the Gunners players and fans, with the gap to fourth-placed Manchester United – who they have played two games fewer than – now reduced to just one point.

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After the game Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he had no issue with the Gunners leaving it late to beat Wolves, suggesting that such a dramatic victory was good for the atmosphere around his team.

Arsenal celebrated a vital 2-1 win in their bid to qualify for the Champions League at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners climbed to fifth in the Premier League, a point behind fourth-placed Manchester United with two games in hand, although they had to do it the hard way.

Trailing to Hwang Hee-chan's early opener, Arteta's men finally equalised eight minutes from time through substitute Pepe, who also then had a hand in the winning goal as he teed up Lacazette for a shot Sa deflected into his own net.

That decisive own goal clocked in at 94 minutes and 56 seconds, making it Arsenal's latest Premier League winner since Alexis Sanchez's January 2017 penalty against Burnley (97:14).

Arteta happy

Asked if he would rather have seen Arsenal comfortable in a routine victory, Arteta told Prime Video: "Probably [I would prefer] the way we won it, because it creates such a belief, a togetherness, an atmosphere and cohesion with our fans as well.

"That's extremely necessary. We really want to create something special here, and without our fans we're not going to be able to do it."

Arsenal have now won seven of their past nine league games, losing only once in that run to Manchester City.

It is a far cry from a dismal start to the season, as Arteta acknowledged as he said: "After three defeats in the first three games, we had to avoid relegation.

"That was the first thing that we had to do, and then just go game by game."