Arsenal boss Unai Emery admitted he was angry with himself after his side were mauled by Wolves in a disastrous first half at Molineux.
Knowing a draw in the Black Country would have put his side back into the top four, the Gunners were left stunned as they conceded three times in 17 first-half minutes.
Ruben Neves, Matt Doherty and Diogo Jota all beat Bernd Leno, as Wolves claimed a 3-1 victory to boost their own Europa League hopes.
Arsenal had 72 per cent possession in the first half, but created little in the final third and were ruthlessly taken apart by their hosts on the counter.
Wolves 3-1 Arsenal: 6 talking points as Gunners fall apart in Molineux mauling
Speaking about his side's first-half collapse, Emery responded: "We knew before the match that it was going to be difficult because all season Wolverhampton are feeling strong, defensively they are a good team and offensively they have very fast players.
"Their organisation was very good and to break this was going to be difficult.
"In the first 25 minutes we started very well, controlled the possession but did not have many chances to score.
"We spoke in the dressing room at half-time and we tried to see it as a new match and in the second half we changed our performance and scored a goal.
"We can be frustrated but the Premier League is about being consistent over 38 matches."
Arsenal embarrassed as inept display sees Unai Emery's men savaged by Wolves
Asked whether he was angry with his side at the break, Emery responded: “I was angry with me. We didn't do the game plan so I was angry with msyelf.
“We lose together and the possibility of being in the top four is out of our hands at the moment.
"We've lost the opportunity and it's up to us to make sure we are back strong for Leicester at the weekend.
“The second and third goals killed us. In the dressing room we spoke of how we needed to recover and be strong in our mind, score one goal was the first idea and after if we can take minutes we can continue in our plans.
"The second half is different but not enough. We still have the chance to be in the top four but it's a difficult target.”
