Gunners down sorry Latics

Arsenal produced a stylish performance to get back to winning ways with a 4-0 demolition of sorry Wigan at the DW Stadium.

Arsenal net four goals as Wigan go bottom with defeat at DW

Arsenal produced a stylish performance to get back to winning ways with a 4-0 demolition of sorry Wigan at the DW Stadium. The Gunners, who drew against Fulham last time, took the lead in the 28th minute when the Wigan defence stood off Mikel Arteta and the Spaniard's shot from outside the box flew past the diving Ali Al Habsi, who should have done better. Arsenal added a second a minute later when Thomas Vermaelen outjumped Gary Caldwell to head home a Robin van Persie corner. Gervinho made sure of the win with a tap-in in the 61st minute after Al Habsi could only parry Van Persie's shot after a fine one-two between the pair. The prolific Dutch striker then got on the scoresheet himself on 78 minutes after good work from Theo Walcott. The win lifts Arsene Wenger's side up to fifth in the table, while the Latics dropped back to the bottom with Blackburn winning. The Latics started well and Victor Moses' well-struck shot could have gone anywhere when it deflected off Vermaelen, but fortunately for the visitors it flew straight into the arms of Wojciech Szczesny. And they went even closer in the sixth minute when Moses and Connor Sammon combined well to play in David Jones on the left of the area.

Looked certain

His cross was palmed out by Szczesny but only as far as Jordi Gomez, who looked certain to score but instead saw his shot deflected behind by Andre Santos. Arsenal had offered little in the opening 15 minutes but Wigan captain Caldwell was fortunate in the 17th minute when he got an attempted clearance from Walcott's low cross all wrong and saw the ball dribble into the hands of Al Habsi. After a bright start, Wigan dropped deeper and deeper, and they paid the price in the 28th minute. First Vermaelen and then Arteta were given acres of space to run into, and the Spaniard took aim from 25 yards, although Al Habsi was right behind the shot and should have kept it out. He did not, though, and a minute later Arsenal made it two with the simplest of goals. Van Persie, who has scored more goals this season than Wigan's entire squad, drove a corner to the back post where Vermaelen nodded in, outjumping Caldwell with no Wigan player on the post to clear. The visitors were now dominating and Al Habsi went some way to redeeming himself with a good save to deny Van Persie a 14th in the league, while the keeper then did just enough to force Gervinho wide after he had been played through. Wigan, who came back from two down to beat Arsenal here two seasons ago, appeared fortunate not to give away a penalty five minutes into the second half.

Mistake

A mistake from Steve Gohouri let in Aaron Ramsey and the Welshman was prevented from getting in a shot after holding from the defender, but referee Mark Clattenburg waved play on, to the disbelief of Ramsey and his team-mates. Van Persie continued his search for a goal, and he might have been wiser to go for goal with a header from Walcott's cross rather than trying to pick out a team-mate. Wigan were looking a little brighter and Ronnie Stam fizzed in a cross that just evaded Sammon before Mohamed Diame shot just wide. But the result was put beyond any doubt in the 61st minute when Van Persie worked some space in the box after a one-two with Gervinho and, although his shot was parried by Al Habsi, it fell perfectly for his strike partner to slot home. A Van Persie goal would have made it perfect afternoon for Arsenal and he shot past the post a couple of minutes later. A decent break involving Wigan substitute Albert Crusat and Moses ended with Stam bursting into the area, and there was a muted shout for a penalty when he went to ground under pressure from Alex Song, but contact looked minimal. Arsenal then showed them how it should be done moments later as Walcott went on a fine run before setting up Van Persie, and this time the striker planted his shot firmly into the far corner. A triple substitution saw Gervinho, Walcott and Song replaced by Andrey Arshavin, Francis Coquelin and Yossi Benayoun, and the latter would have made it five with a neat dink over Al Habsi had Caldwell not got back and headed the ball off the line.

Wigan Athletic	Team Statistics	Arsenal
0	Goals	4
0	1st Half Goals	2
3	Shots on Target	7
3	Shots off Target	8
2	Blocked Shots	1
4	Corners	5
9	Fouls	12
2	Offsides	3
3	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
83.7	Passing Success	89.2
19	Tackles	14
73.7	Tackles Success	85.7
34.7	Possession	65.3
52.1	Territorial Advantage	47.9
338	Total Passes	679
18	Total Crosses	16
115	Lost Balls	122
44	Recoveries	68
0	1st Half Poss.	0
0	2nd Half Poss.	0