Arsenal 4-0 Wigan: Gunners Back On Track At the Emirates

After two successive league defeats in Manchester, Arsenal continued their return to winning ways with a comfortable 4-0 win against Wigan at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.

Nicklas Bendtner made way for Robin Van Persie, while Bacary Sagna returned at right back, allowing Emmanuel Eboue to start on the right side of midfield. Thomas Rosicky, recently returned from a long term injury lay off, dropped to the bench after his first start in months in the scrambled mid-week win in Liege.

Wigan, who were unchanged from their 1-0 home win against West Ham last week, found themselves under early pressure from Arsenal's high tempo, possession game and rarely looked like troubling the Gunners. 

Arsenal wasted a number of early opportunities before Thomas Vermaelen capitalised on the home side's dominance, taking the lead with a commanding header from a corner in the 25th minute. The 1-0 lead Arsene Wenger's team took into the break didn't do justice to their superiority, with Wigan rarely troubling third choice goalkeeper Vito Mannone.

The second half resumed in much the same fashion as the first. Wigan's continued inability to retain possession provided Arsenal with many opportunities to increase their lead, and it was first half goal scorer Vermaelen who duly obliged, rounding off a good exchange with the impressive Emmanuel Eboue to lift a well placed shot beyond the reach of Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal.

A third goal came from an Eduardo shot deflected via Eboue, and Cesc Fabregas added a late fourth from close range. Despite the ultimate ease of Arsenal's win, the Gunners did struggle for fluidity at times, uncharacteristically losing possession on occasion, but not with as much frequency as Wigan.

Arsene Wenger testified to the combination of good football and hard work that secured the win:

"We showed our resilience, a great attitude and played with fluency. Our job is not to talk too much but to win games. We were faithful to the way we wanted to play up until the end of the game. Everybody worked hard for the team."

Few expected the Latics to come out of the game with anything and the travelling contingent would have seen little to console themselves as they made the trip back up the M6 to Lancashire. Roberto Martinez' intention was clearly to pack the midfield, disrupt Arsenal's rhythm where possible and, with some dogged defending and a measure of luck, escape with a draw. 

The discipline and application required to achieve such a result was found badly wanting and Wigan will need to improve their organisation and make much better use of rare possession if they are to gain anything against the top sides this season, with the failings acknowledged by the Wigan boss in his post match comments:

"We couldn't be ourselves and from that respect we made it easy for Arsenal. We allowed them to have that rhythm on the ball and dictate things. It's a tough start we've had to this campaign but we'll get back to our best and learn from today."

Back to the drawing board for Wigan on Monday, as they prepare for an equally challenging game at home to league leaders Chelsea next weekend. Arsenal will hope to build on this victory away to Fulham and perhaps put together a run of good form as they eagerly await the return of Andrei Arshavin, Theo Walcott, and first and second choice goalkeepers, Manuel Almunia and Lukas Fabianksi.