Wigan: Arsenal returned to winning ways and extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to seven games as they beat Wigan 4-0 at the DW Stadium on Saturday.
First-half goals from Mikel Arteta and Thomas Vermaelen put the Gunners in control of the game and they never looked like surrendering their lead as Wigan struggled to get back into the encounter.
The Gunners controlled the majority of the match and extended their lead further through Gervinho on the hour mark and Robin Van Persie with 11 minutes remaining to seal all three points.
Franco Di Santo's late winner against Sunderland was not enough to earn him a place in the starting XI for Wigan as manager Roberto Martinez named an unchanged line-up, as Conor Sammon continued to lead the line for the Latics with Victor Moses and Jordi Gomez tasked with supporting him in attack.
Arsene Wenger made two changes to the side who were held by Fulham last weekend: Laurent Koscielny and Gervinho were recalled in place of Johan Djourou and Andrey Arshavin. Youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's performance against Manchester City in the Carling Cup earned him a place on the subs bench.
Both sides started the game confidently with some neat passing but the first chance of the game fell to the home side in the sixth minute. Sammon controlled a long ball from Steve Gohouri, before the Scot found David Jones on the left and delivered a dangerous cross into the penalty area.
Wojciech Szczesny could only palm the ball into the path of Jordi Gomez and the Spaniard looked certain to score from 10 yards with an open goal in front of him but his effort deflected off full-back Andre Santos for a corner.
The game had been fairly even for the opening 25 minutes but the deadlock was finally broken as Arteta fired a long-range shot past goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.
Vermaelen broke out of defence before finding the Spaniard inside the Wigan half, with Mohamed Diame failing to close down the midfielder quickly enough as Arteta lashed the ball into the net from 25 yards. Al Habsi will have felt he could've done better though as the ball seemed to fly through his hands as he dived to his right.
Minutes later the Gunners delivered another blow to Wigan as they doubled their lead through Vermaelen. The visitors were awarded a corner on the right wing, Van Persie fired the ball in and the Belgian centre-back rose above Gary Caldwell and Sammon to head home at the back post.
Having conceded two goals so quickly, Wigan were shell-shocked and Arsenal very nearly extended their lead in the 34th minute through Van Persie. Gervinho set off on a mazy run down the left wing. He then found Van Persie on the edge of the penalty area but the Dutchman's left-footed shot was saved by Al Habsi diving to his left.
The visitors began the second half as they finished the first, in total control. And five minutes into the second period, they should have been awarded a penalty for a pull on Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman combined with Van Persie but appeared to be pulled back by Gohouri but referee Mark Clattenburg turned away the Gunners appeals.
Seconds later Wigan broke on the counterattack through Ronnie Stam, he found Moses, who managed to wriggle free in the area, but his cross was too powerful for Sammon to get on the end of, and the chance was gone.
On the hour, Arsenal extended their lead through the busy Gervinho. Van Persie broke into the Wigan penalty area on the left-hand side and managed to wriggle free of two defenders but his right-footed effort was well saved by Al Habsi. However, the keeper could only palm the ball into the path of Gervinho and he fired the ball into the empty net.
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