Tom Edozie rewrites Premier League history with debut goal that sends Arsenal's title bid into crisis

Tom Edozie came off the bench to score on his Premier League debut at Molineux, earning Wolves a stunning late equaliser against league leaders Arsenal.

Nigeria-eligible teenager, Tom Edozie, introduced as a substitute, needed just one moment to announce himself to the Premier League world.

His shot, which deflected off the post and into the net following a catastrophic breakdown in communication between Gabriel and goalkeeper David Raya from a Mateus Mane cross, cancelled out Arsenal's lead and sent Molineux into pandemonium.

The goal itself was the subject of immediate controversy. Initial post-match reporting credited the strike as a Riccardo Calafiori own goal, but a formal post-match review officially confirmed Edozie as the scorer, a correction that transforms a footnote into a headline and a debut into a historic one.

By that official confirmation, Edozie became only the seventh player in Premier League history to score on debut against the side occupying top spot on that matchday.

He is the first to do so since Antony's debut goal for Manchester United against Arsenal in September 2022. That is not a footnote. That is a permanent entry in the league's statistical record.

The title race fallout

The result stings Arsenal in ways the scoreline alone cannot fully capture. Mikel Arteta's side remain five points clear at the top, but the draw carries the psychological weight of a defeat.

Their title rivals have a game in hand, and Arsenal's remaining schedule offers no comfort; a North London derby against Tottenham and a potentially title-deciding collision with Manchester City still await.

The frustration was visible long before the final whistle. Gabriel Jesus was booked for his protestations at the referee, an image that encapsulated the mood inside a deflated Arsenal camp.

This story lands on multiple frequencies simultaneously, and that is precisely what makes it significant beyond the 90 minutes.

For the Super Eagles, Edozie's emergence is timely. Nigeria's player pool at the elite club level is perpetually scrutinised, and a teenager producing a milestone Premier League debut, with the cameras of the entire footballing world trained on him, sharpens the debate around his international allegiance considerably.

For Wolves, a club that has spent much of this season fighting for survival in the top flight, a point earned against the league leaders by a debutant teenager is the kind of story that rebuilds identity and belief in equal measure.

For the league itself, the Premier League's greatest commercial asset has always been its chaos and its capacity to produce the genuinely unexpected.

A late equaliser from a teenage debutant, with a goal attribution that changed overnight, blowing open a title race that felt settled, this is the Premier League doing exactly what it does best.

The doors, as they say, have been blown wide open. Tom Edozie just kicked them through.