Arsenal moved into fifth place in the Barclays Premier
League table with a thumping 4-0 win over Wigan at the
DW Stadium.
• Blog: Demons of the DW banished
The hosts, who drop to the bottom of the table, began
brightly but were undone by two goals in two minutes
just before the half-hour mark as first Mikel Arteta's
shot evaded Ali Al Habsi's grasp and then Thomas Vermaelen
nodded in a corner.
Arsenal always looked likely to add to their lead in
the second half and in the 61st minute Gervinho made
it three before Robin Van Persie added his customary
goal 12 minutes from time after good work from Theo
Walcott.
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.
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 Gary Caldwell was fortunate in the
17th minute when he got an attempted clearance from
Walcott's low cross all wrong and was fortunate to see
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.
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.
A mistake from Steve Gohouri let in Aaron Ramsey and
the Welshman was prevented from getting in a shot by
a clumsy tackle 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
and, although his shot was parried by Al Habsi, it fell
perfectly for Gervinho.
A Van Persie goal would have made it perfect afternoon
for Arsenal and he probably should have done better
than shoot 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 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. |
