Arsene Wenger's Arsenal stretched their unbeaten start to a Premiership season to a record 24 games, but they had to pull out all the stops to take maximum points off relegation-threatened Wolves.
The lowly Molineux men battled for every ball and they showed enough spirit and fight against the Gunners to strengthen their bid to secure their top flight status.
Dennis Bergkamp fired the Gunners ahead after just nine minutes, but they were stunned Wolves fought back to equalise with a first top-flight goal for Romanian striker Ioan Ganea.
But after the break, Arsenal found the target twice in just five minutes to secure victory in a game where manager Wenger admitted: "Wolves gave every drop of blood." David Jones' strugglers were beaten at home in the league for the first time since September 20 as Arsenal brought their run of four victories and four draws to an abrupt halt.
But Wolves emerged from the game with credit with manager Jones full of praise and admitting that with a bit of luck they could have carved out the shock result of the day.
Jones' men came out of the blocks in a determined mood with new £2million striker Carl Cort failing to make the most of an early chance created by Alex Rae.
Cort's hesitation in front of goal proved costly because moments later Bergkamp crowned a marvellous move by Arsenal through the heart of the Wolves defence.
Edu slipped a perfect pass to Ashley Cole and he threaded the ball through to Bergkamp to lash a cracking shot past keeper Paul Jones.
Bergkamp was unlucky in the 37th minute with a left-footer that produced a fine diving save from Jones but then, in the dying seconds of the opening half, Wolves squandered a chance of taking a 2-1 lead.
Colin Cameron found Ganea unmarked in front of goal but before the Romanian could get in his shot defender Sol Campbell made a marvellous last-gasp challenge to clear the danger.
After the break, Arsenal hit a higher gear, they became more physical and in the 58th minute they took the lead for the second time.
Patrick Vieira found Robert Pires with an inch-perfect pass and he crossed to Thierry Henry who found the net as he slipped the ball passed the advancing Jones.
Then, in the 63th minute, Pires again caused panic in the Wolves defence with another fine cross that was nodded back into the middle by Vieira.
The ball found Kolo Toure and he was left with the simple task of powering a close-range header into the back of the Wolves net.
The Gunners stayed in control and they came desperately close to increasing their lead in the 77th minute with a shot from Cole that flashed just inches wide of the far post.
Keeper Jones, making his return to Molineux after his recent move from Southampton, made a couple of superb saves in the opening 45 minutes.
Jones stretched in the 13th minute to fingertip away a goalbound drive from Henry and, moments later, he dived smartly to his left to keep out a terrific left-footer from Bergkamp.
Wenger remained cautious about the outcome of the battle for the Championship despite clocking up a record unbeaten 24-game Premiership start for table-topping Arsenal.
"It is still very tight and the player realise every point is vital," said Wenger.
"A record 24 games unbeaten is a good sign of consistency, it shows the effort that is put in by my players every week.
"But when you look at our game against Wolves it shows things are still very fragile. You need a bit of luck but you have also got to have mental qualities.
"We now have to go Southampton on Tuesday and that is going to be another tough game." Wenger added: "I thought Wolves gave every drop of blood, they did it well and they stopped our game.
"They always looked dangerous on set-pieces and long balls. At half-time, because the pitch was difficult, we knew we had to raise they physical level of our game and our commitment.
"I thought Wolves dropped a little physically and we took control. Once we got the second goal, we were in control.
"But full credit to Wolves they gave everything and I can understand why they had not been beaten at home for such a long time.
"At the break I told my players we had to be more dominant and to win more challenges. We had to be more physical to win the game." Wolves manager Jones was full of praise for the determination and effort put in by his relegation-threatened players.
"There was not much in it for the first hour, but Arsenal had the quality they needed to pick you off.
"But I feel the three goals we gave away were bad no matter who you are playing." Jones went on: "I thought we played some very good football at times and we really gave them a scare. We could have gone into a 2-1 lead.
"But that is the difference in the teams. Arsenal put their chances away and we didn't." The manager, now beaten three times in three games against the Gunners this term - and conceding 11 goals - said: "We had a right go at them and we gave them a bit of a fright but their second goal knocked the stuffing out of us.
"We gave a good game to one of the best teams in Europe. But when you are up against quality players they are likely to pick you off and that's just what they did.
"We made it difficult for them to get into a tempo but you know that if you fall asleep or switch off they will get you." Jones said it was hard to distinguish who was the better side - Arsenal or Manchester United - and he said they were involved in a real battle to win the Championship.
"For all the hard work we put in and the football we played, we got nothing. But there were a lot of positives to come out of our game and when you can scare a team like Arsenal it shows you must be doing something right." Man of the Match: Robert Pires - At the heart of all of Arsenal's best moves and was a constant threat to the home defence.