Premier League: Xhaka bows out with brace as Arsenal blasts Wolves 5-0

Arsenal had topped the English Premier League for almost the entire season but had stumbled badly in the final eight games to allow a ruthless Manchester City to roar past it to a third consecutive title.

Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka applauds fans after being substituted. | Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra

Arsenal romped to a 5-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, with Granit Xhaka bagging two of the goals in what is expected to be his final game of an incident-packed seven years at the club.

Arsenal had topped the English Premier League for almost the entire season but had stumbled badly in the final eight games to allow a ruthless Manchester City to roar past it to a third consecutive title.

The London club finished the season with a flourish though. Some trickery from forward Gabriel Jesus on the right was headed in by Xhaka on 11 minutes to give it an early lead in what was the Swiss midfielder’s 297th, and tipped to be last, game.

His fairytale finish was nailed on just three minutes later when the 30-year-old, who had been close to leaving the club in 2019 after ill-tempered exchanges with supporters, tapped in following some clever interchange play from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard.

He spurned a golden chance for a hat-trick before Saka made it 3-0 in less than half an hour with a curled effort. Jesus headed in the fourth after halftime, while Jakub Kiwior made it 5-0 with 12 minutes left to play.