Arsenal miss chance to go fourth after draw with Wolves

Arsenal dropped two points and missed the chance to overtake Chelsea and move into the top four on Tuesday as they drew 1-1 with Wolves. Gervinho's goal early on was cancelled out by Fletcher's fortuatous equaliser before half time. It was a game of missed chances for the Gunners as they looked to be comfortable for the majority of the game but failed to take their goal scoring opportunities. Arsene Wenger made three changes to the side that beat Aston Villa as Djourou came back from injury in place of Coquelin whilst Rosicky came in for the rested Aaron Ramsey. Walcott was out of the game due to illness so Benayoun took his place.

Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was on top form to deny Arsenal from getting 3 points

The first real chance of the game was the opening goal in the match. Arsenal broke from inside their own half before Benayoun found Gervinho who rounded the goalkeeper and fired the ball home.

Arsenal then had a great chance to double their lead as Gervinho ran at the defence before finding Van Persie who put the ball wide of the target.

The Arsenal captain then worked another chance as he got into the penalty area before seeing his near post shot saved by Hennessey.

Seven minutes before the break Wolves equalised. A corner came out to Hunt on the edge of the box who struck a shot which was deflected into the path of Fletcher who headed the ball into the back of the net from 6 yards out.

Arsenal responded well as Arteta found Rosicky who spun and then fired a shot from distance which Hennessey managed to keep out.

The score at half time was 1-1.

Robin Van Persie then got Hennessey to pull off a brilliant save. The Dutchman unleashed a free kick from the left which looked to be curling in but for the goalkeeper who tipped the ball over the bar.

The Gunners were desperately trying to find a goal which would put them into the lead as first Rosicky's cross found Mertesacker's head which was once again kept out brilliantly by Hennessey. The ball eventually came out to Van Persie but his took a slight deflection and went wide.

Rosicky then got a chance as Ramsey did well to intercept the defender before playing the ball back to Rosicky on the edge of the area who curled the ball wide of the goal.

Wolves were then sent down to 10 men as Milijas lost control of the ball and then brought down Arteta on the edge of the box which the referee deemed to be a sending off offence.

Arsenal were looking to take advantage of playing against 10 men and they almost did as Arshavin played a one-two with Van Persie before hitting a looping shot which just went wide.

Hennessey was tested again by a Van Persie freekick as he struck the ball from the right which was parmed away by the Welsh goalkeeper.

The Wolves keeper was proving to be unbeatable as he then kept out another Van Persie attempt. This time it was kept out with his foot as the Gunners captain hit the ball from a tight angle.

Hennessey had one more vital save to make as Vermaelen got into the penalty area but his effort was saved by the chest of the goalkeeper.

The final score finished Arsenal 1-1 Wolves.

The teams lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Djourou(85), Koscielny, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Song(71), Arteta, Rosicky, Benayoun(64), Gervinho, Van Persie.
Subs: Almunia, Miquel, Coquelin, Ramsey(71), Arshavin(64), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chamakh(85).

Wolves: Hennessey, Zubar(51), Berra, Johnson, Ward, Forde(71), Henry, Milijas, Hunt(85), Jarvis, Fletcher.
Subs: De Vries, Elokobi, Stearman(51), Guedioura(71), Hammill, Ebanks-Blake, Doyle(85).

My man of the match: Tomas Rosicky

Referee: Stuart Attwell
Attendance: 59,686

Late Benayoun goal rescues Arsenal

Substitute Yossi Benayoun came off the bench to rescue Arsenal as three minutes from the end the Isreali struck to give the Gunners a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday night. It was far from comfortable as Villa played better than in recent games. However Robin Van Persie's goal early on from the penalty spot set the tone for an exciting match, but it was then cancelled out by Marc Albrighton's equaliser. Arsenal had the majority of the chances on a night they perhaps did not deserve all three points as the on loan Chelsea midfielder, Benayoun, scored his most important Arsenal goal to date. The game ended on a sour note as Aston Villa's Alan Hutton was shown a second yellow card and was sent off. Arsenal were forced into making two changes as Emmanuel Frimpong came in for the suspended Alex Song whilst Coquelin came in at right back for the injured Djourou.

Yossi Benayoun came off the bench to win the game for Arsenal

The first chance of the game went Villa's way as N'Zogbia swung in a ball from the right onto the head of Agbonlahor but Szczesny was in the way to beat the ball away.

Arsenal's first chance was a goal. It came from the penalty spot after Walcott managed to turn smartly past Clark and then was pulled back and the referee gave a penalty. Van Persie stepped up to smash his penalty high into the roof of the net to equal Thierry Henry's record of goals in a calendar year of 34.

The visitors next chance fell to Walcott as Van Persie played the ball through to him but Guzan came racing out of his goal to deny the wingers attempted chip.

Arsenal then wasted another chance as again Van Persie cut open the Villa defence with a ball through to Ramsey but with Warnock closing him down he flashed his shot wide of the goal.

The score at half time was 1-0 to Arsenal.

The first real opportunity of the second half saw Aston Villa equalise. A long ball was put down forward by Guzan in the Villa goal which was flicked on only as far as Vermaelen who's weak header towards Mertesacker was cut out by Albrighton who raced clear of the defence and comfortably slotted the ball past Szczesny and into the back of the net. That goal was to be the 20,000th goal in Premier League history.

The Gunners almost struck back immediately as Van Persie's corner broke to Mertesacker who managed to get a shot away but Guzan managed to save well from the German's attempt.

Arsenal then had a strong claim for a penalty turned down as Van Persie got into the box and then collided with Warnock before the referee turned down the claims and booked the Gunners captain for supposedly diving.

Arsenal were desperately looking for a goal which would put them ahead as Van Persie picked the ball up outside the box and then struck a shot which went miles over the bar. 

Andrey Arshavin then managed to work a shooting opportunity as he troubled Albrighton before firing a shot which took a deflection and went out for an Arsenal corner. The resulting corner was to result in a goal. Van Persie swung in the ball towards the back post and onto the head of Benayoun who headed home from 6 yards out to give Arsenal all three points.

Mikel Arteta then drove an optimistic attempt from far out but it was comfortably kept out by Guzan.

Aston Villa were then sent down to ten men as Alan Hutton got himself sent off for a second bookable offence after a late challenge on Thomas Vermaelen.

The final score finished Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal. 

The teams lineups: 

Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, Albrighton(88), Petrov, Ireland(45), Clark, N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor. 
Subs: Marshall, Collins, Williams, Delph, Bannan(45), Weimann, Delfouneso(88).

Arsenal: Szczesny, Coquelin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Arteta, Frimpong(66), Ramsey(81), Walcott, Gervinho(81), Van Persie.
Subs: Almunia, Squillaci, Rosicky(66), Benayoun(81), Arshavin(81), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chamakh.

My man of the match: Yossi Benayoun

Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 35,818     

Silva goal wins game as Arsenal lose to league leaders

Arsenal lost their first game in the league for over two months on Sunday afternoon as league leaders Manchester City grabbed a 1-0 victory thanks to a second half goal from David Silva. The game was fantastic to watch for the neutral as both sides attacked each other and Arsenal even had a goal ruled out for offside, and a strong claim for a penalty turned down. However it was Manchester City who managed to bounce back from their defeat against Chelsea the week before to take all three points. Arsenal were unchanged for the visit to the Etihad as once again all recognised full backs were out of the game with injuries so Vermaelen continued at left back. However the Gunners did suffer another defensive setback as Djourou limped off (expected to be out for 3 weeks) and was replaced by Ignasi Miquel. Ex-Arsenal players Kolo Toure and Samir Nasri started for City.

Samir Nasri was playing for Mancheser City against the club he left in the summer

The first chance of the game came to Manchester City as Zabaleta was played down the left hand side, before playing the ball into the middle into the path of Aguero who one on one with Szczesny put his shot over the bar when he should have at least hit the target.

Arsenal's first chance fell to Gervinho as Song played him in but the Ivorian's shot was straight at Hart who saved rather unconvincingly but still managed to put the ball out for a corner. From the resulting corner the ball was layed all the way back to Ramsey on the edge of the box who struck a curling effort which Hart had to get down well to keep the score level. 

City then were gifted a great chance to take the lead but Szczesny saved brilliantly to stop them. Richards cross looped up off Koscielny's head straight to Balotelli who brought the ball down between Djourou and Mertesacker before turning and firing an effort which was kept out. 

The hosts then managed to create another chance as Aguero played a one-two on the edge of the box with Silva before cutting inside and hitting a shot which Szczesny was forced into making another save from. 

The score at half time was 0-0.

Seven minutes into the second half Man City took the lead. Nasri played the ball out wide to Balotelli who cut inside and hit a shot which was too hot to handle for Szczesny and then the ball broke to Silva who tapped the ball in from close range.

Arsenal responded quickly as Koscielny found Walcott who from just outside the box struck a fierce shot with the outside of his boot bringing out a brilliant save from Hart to deny Arsenal from equalising. 

The Gunners then had a goal disallowed as Ramsey fed Van Persie who dinked the ball over Hart and into the back of the net, however the linesman judged the Arsenal captain to be offside when he looked to have been on. 

It was end to end football and City then came within inches of doubling their lead as the ball came out to Aguero who hit a shot with his left foot which curled just inches wide of the far post. 

Arsenal were playing with confidence and Van Persie had a decent chance to equalise. Gervinho beat his man before cutting the ball back to Van Persie who struck a shot which was saved easily by Hart.

The Gunners were then saved by the post as Koscielny gave the ball away to Zabaleta who then broke forward and smashed a shot which hit the post and bounced back out. 

Vermaelen then had two shots which troubled Hart and almost found the net. The first came from a free kick as Arteta layed the ball off to the Belgian on the edge of the area before striking a powerful effort which Hart saved well. The second was also struck from outside the box as he looked to curl a shot from distance but went just wide. 

The final score finished Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal. 

The teams lineups:

Manchester City: Hart, Richards, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Zabaleta, Yaya Toure(86), Barry, Nasri(86), Aguero, Balotelli(73).
Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Savic, De Jong(86), Milner(73), Johnson, Dzeko(86).

Arsenal: Szczesny, Djourou(47), Mertesacker(82), Koscielny, Vermaelen, Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott(69), Gervinho, Van Persie.
Subs: Almunia, Miquel(47), Frimpong, Rosicky, Benayoun, Arshavin(69), Chamakh(82).   

My man of the match: Thomas Vermaelen 

Referee: Phil Dowd
Attendance: 47,303 

Van Persie stunner seals win on anniversary day

Robin Van Persie scored a brilliant volley on Saturday as Arsenal beat Everton 1-0 at the Emirates on a day which saw the club celebrate 125 years of existance. The Gunners broke into the top four for the first time this season thanks to the skipper's wonder goal and also ensured they remained three points behind rivals Tottenham. The famous scoreline of 1-0 to the Arsenal could have been many more had they finished their vast amount of chances as Everton made it difficult for the hosts as they were happy to sit back and defend for most of the game. Arsenal were forced into making two changes for the match as injured Andre Santos was replaced by Djourou who went to right back with Vermaelen shifting out wide to left back as Mertesacker and Koscielny partnered each other at centre half. Mikel Arteta was playing against the club he signed from for the first time since his move to the Gunners. Manuel Almunia was in the team for the first time this season due to the injuries to Fabianski and Mannone as the Spaniard was on the bench. Rosicky was also on the bench after returning from injury.

Van Persie was once again the difference as he scored a stunning volley

The first chance of the game came early on. Arteta dispossessed Fellaini who then found Walcott who raced towards goal but instead of shooting he decided to pass the ball over to Gervinho. However he did not make contact with the ball and the chance was gone.

The next chance came to Arsenal again as Song found Ramsey, who then brought the ball onto his left foot but fired the ball just over the crossbar.

Gervinho then had a good opportunity to give the Gunners the lead as he got clear of the Everton defence but stuck his shot straight at Howard who kept out the shot comfortably.

Everton's only real sight of goal in the first half fell to Saha as the ball looped up into the path of him but he tried a shot from distance which went wide and was never going to trouble Szczesny.

The score at half time was 0-0.

Robin Van Persie was then presented with a decent opportunity to score as Walcott flashed the ball across the box but the ball had too much pace on and the captain could only put the ball way over the bar. 

Theo Walcott then created another chance but this time for himself, as he got past Baines before unleashing a shot which Howard was forced into making another good save.

Everton then started to commit men forward as first from a Baines cross Cahill almost put the ball in the net. Another chance then came as Vermaelen's header out of the box only went as far as Coleman, who set the ball back to Neville who hit a shot which only just went over Szczesny's crossbar.

With 20 minutes left Arsenal finally got the goal which they deserved. Song picked the ball up in the middle of the field before finding Van Persie. He then hit the ball first time on the volley which found the bottom corner of the net. That was the Dutchman's 33rd goal in 32 Premier League games in 2011, one short of Thierry Henry’s club record for a calendar year.

Everton substitute Conor McAleny then managed to create a chance as the 19 year old struck a looping shot from just inside the penalty area which bounced just wide of the far post.

The final score finished Arsenal 1-0 Everton.

The teams lineups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen(83), Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott(90), Gervinho(83), Van Persie.
Subs: Almunia, Miquel(83), Frimpong(90), Rosicky(83), Benayoun, Arshavin, Chamakh.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Baines, Neville(76), Fellaini, Coleman, Bilyaletdinov(76), Cahill, Saha(63).
Subs: Mucha, Distin(63), Barkley, Stracqualursi, McAleny(76), Gueye(76), Vellios.

My man of the match: Alex Song

Referee: Howard Webb
Attendance: 60,062   

Arsenal celebrate 125 years - Commemorating Legends

Arsenal Football club have honoured three Arsenal greats by unveiling three statues outside the Emirates Stadium.Former manager Herbet Chapman, defensive rock Tony Adams and goal scoring hero Thierry Henry have all been commemorated in bronze statues which were unveiled by Arsenal Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood. The unveiling of the three statues forms part of Arsenal’s 125th anniversary celebrations which is set to continue before todays game against Everton.

Joined by Peter Hill-Wood, Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry for the event was a large crowd to witness the unveiling around the stadium. The first statue to be revealed was Herbert Chapman who was Arsenal manager between 1925 and 1934. Chapman's Arsenal teams won the league four times in five years whilst his management developed and advanced diets, fitness, tactics and brilliant football. His time, however, at Arsenal was cut short as he died in 1934 aged just 55. Herbert Chapman's statue has been placed underneath the clock close to the Danny Fiszman Bridge and sees him looking towards the Stadium as a symbol of the Club’s achievements and importance whilst he was at Highbury.

Herbert Chapman

The second statue to be unveiled was of defender Tony Adams which has been located outside the Northbank at the Emirates. Adams spent 19 years at the club as he made a total of 669 appearances, becoming Arsenal's second all time appearence maker behind David O'leary. He is also the most successful captain in the Club’s history, leading Arsenal to ten major competition victories.

Tony Adams

The third and final statue to be unveiled was Thierry Henry. Henry is Arsenal's all time leading goal scorer with 226 strikes during his 8 years at the club. Henry won several major honours winning the Premier League and FA Cup twice, the Premier League 'Golden Boot' four times and the PFA Player of the Year award on two occassions. The Frenchman has always been renowned as an Arsenal legend as he also scored the last ever goal at Highbury in May 2006. Thierry Henry's statue has been placed in the south-east corner of the Emirates Stadium, next to the Spirit of Highbury mural.

Thierry Henry

The statues to commemorate these Arsenal legends were designed and created by MDM. They have been cast in bronze and are all life size and a half of the individuals. Having taken around 625 hours to create and weighing approximately 200kg each. The figures were lifted into place on Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s ceremony.

Also to celebrate the Club's anniversary, referee for Arsenal's game against Everton, Howard Webb, will use a sixpence in the coin toss to commemorate how the club started out. A group of workers at Dial Square armaments factory in Woolwich decided to form a football team, each giving a sixpence - two and a half pence in today's money - for the purchase of a football.

Arsenal celebrate 125 years - A history of the club

Arsenal Football Club celebrated 125 years of existence on December 1st and will celebrate the anniversary before their game with Everton on December 10th. The Gunners have had a long and successful history as they have won 13 First Division and Premier League titles, 10 F.A Cups and 2 League Cups. Arsenal also holds the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and is the only side to have completed a Premier League season unbeaten. In this post I have picked out some of the most important parts in the club's long history.

Starting Out:
Arsenal FC originally started out as ''Dial Square'' in 1886 when they were founded by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. Shortly after, the club was renamed to ''Royal Arsenal''. In 1893 the club was then renamed again, this time to ''Woolwich Arsenal''. In the same year Woolwich Arsenal became the first southern member of the Football League, starting out in the Second Division and then winning promotion to the First Division in 1904. However their football was watched in lower attendances than those of other clubs. This led to the club being faced with financial problems and effectively bankrupt by 1910. They were then taken over by businessmen. The take over wanted to move the club and in 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, they dropped "Woolwich" from their name the following year to become just ''Arsenal''. Arsenal only finished in fifth place in 1919, but were elected controversially to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.  

The club under Herbert Chapman:

Herbert Chapman

Herbert Chapman, one of Arsenal's most famous managers was appointed in 1925. Chapman had experienced previous success having won trophies with Huddersfield and brought Arsenal's first period of success and led them to dominate English football throughout the early 1930's. He guided the club to victory in the 1930 FA Cup Final and also won two League Championships in the seasons 1930/31 and 1932/33. In addition to the success that Chapman brought to Arsenal he was also key in the renaming of the local London Underground station from ''Gillespie Road'' to ''Arsenal'' which made it the only tube station to be named specifically after a football team. However Herbert Chapman's time at Arsenal was ended suddenly as he died in 1934, from pneumonia, aged just 55. This left assistants Joe Shaw and George Allison to carry on with Chapman's success. They were successful in continuing his work as they won more titles with Arsenal.
 
The Club under Bertie Mee:  
Bertie Mee was also another manager to achieve huge success with Arsenal. He was manager at the club for ten years between 1966 and 1976. He started off his success with winning the Gunners first European trophy, The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The following season the clubs European achievement was followed by a greater triumph, their first League and FA Cup double in 1970–71. Arsenal managed to beat Leeds to the championship with a victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Arsenal then went on to beat Liverpool after extra time to win the FA Cup at Wembley.

Recent Times: 

After former player George Graham's successful time managing Arsenal and Bruce Rioch's one season in charge, Arsene Wenger was appointed manager in 1996. This was to be the start of something special. Under the Frenchman's reign so far, he has guided the club to three League titles, four FA Cups and 3 Community Shields. One of the three league titles came in the season of 2003/04 in which they went unbeaten for the entire league season. Arsene Wenger also guided Arsenal to the 2006 Champions League final, however they lost 2-1 at the hands of Barcelona. Wenger has managed many great players during his 15 years in charge but none better than Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp who played a pivotal role in the Gunners success. Arsene was vital in his teams move to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 after 93 years at previous ground Highbury. During his time as manager of the club he has also turned young players into fantastic players that are still becoming better. Players such as Cesc Fabregas(now at Barcelona), Robin Van Persie, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song and Theo Walcott all started out as not very well known players. They are certainly well known now. More recently though players such as Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Laurent Koscielny are all players that are becoming greater players due to Arsene's work.

Arsene Wenger

Arsenal suffer defeat in final group game

Arsenal suffered a 3-1 defeat to Olympiacos in their final Champions League group game. Poor goalkeeping and bad defending led to all three goals. Benayoun offered hope late on for an unbeaten group stage but the Greek side were too strong on the night. However the loss did not matter as Arsenal were already through to the knockout stages of the competition and were also guaranteed top spot in Group F. Because of the guarantee of knockout football in the new year, Arsenal rested key men and played their second team as the likes of Chamakh, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Squillaci and Miquel all featured. However despite the loss the biggest defeat on the night seemed to be the injuries to Santos and to Fabianski who was stretchered off early on in the game.

Defensive and goalkeeping errors cost Arsenal the game

The first chance of the game came to Arsenal and Arshavin. Chamakh was played through down the right hand side; he was then allowed time to play in Arshavin who was unmarked but fired his shot straight at Megyeri in the Olympiacos goal when he should have scored.

Arsenal's next chance fell to Emmanuel Frimpong as Chamakh again was allowed to provide an opportunity for a team mate as he found Frimpong but he could only curl his shot into the side netting.

However fifteen minutes in and with Olympiacos' first chance of the game they took the lead. The ball was slipped through to Djebbour who went round Fabianski and put the ball into an empty net.

Olympiacos then could have doubled their lead. First Mirallas went close with an effort from outside the box which had Fabianski backpedalling. However with the second chance Djebbour could not make contact with the ball, instead smashed into Fabianski. As a result of the clash the Arsenal keeper was substituted in place of Vito Mannone who made his first appearance of the season.

Arsenal were still looking to threaten as Oxlade-Chamberlain got past his man before crossing the ball back to Benayoun who on the volley hit his shot wide.

With 10 minutes to go until the break Olympiacos doubled their lead through an error from Mannone in the Arsenal goal. Mannone raced out of goal to head the ball clear, however the ball bounced straight to Fuster who struck a shot which found the net in weird circumstances. Mannone had not realised he was back in his box and tried to clear the ball with his feet but missed it and the Greek side found themselves 2-0 up.

Djebbour then had a good chance to get his second of the night as he got to a corner at the front post but to only to see his header hit the side netting.

The Greek side were playing the better football and almost scored another. Djourou gave the ball away to Maniatis who could only find the hands of Mannone who made an easy save.

The score at half time was 2-0 to Olympiacos.

Olympiacos started the second half just as they had finished the second. The first chance fell to Modesto after Santos' header could only find him. Modesto then drove the shot but it was kept out comfortably and the ball went out for a corner.

From the resulting corner Olof Melberg rose the highest to get to the ball but unluckily for him saw his header clip the bar and go out.

Arsenal finally did manage to create another chance as minutes before the hour mark Yossi Benayoun scored to put the Gunners back into the match. Miquel found space on the left hand side before picking out Chamakh inside the box. He then chested the ball back to Benayoun who fiercely smashed a shot towards goal which found the back of the net.

However Olympiacos were still pushing for a third goal. The ball was cleverly clipped over the Arsenal defence and with Mannone slow coming out of his goal Modesto got to the ball first but only to waste another chance and his header went wide once again.

The Gunners managed to create another chance as the ball was played through to Rosicky but his attempted effort on goal was kept out by Megyeri.

Olympiacos who needed to win and hope that results went their way were still on the attack. This time Mirallas went close after cutting inside past Miquel but his shot went untroubled and hit the side netting.

With a minute left to play, the hosts got a deserved third goal as Mellberg's header came back off the post and straight to Modesto who scored from close range to seal the victory.

The final score ended Olympiacos 3-1 Arsenal.

The teams lineups:

Olympiacos: Megyeri, Maniatis, Modesto, Mellberg, Holebas(37), Papadopoulos, Marcano, Torosidis, Fuster(64), Djebbour(90), Mirallas.
Subs: Costanzo, Papazoglou(90), Poutouridis, Orbaiz(37), Fetfatzidis, Abdoun(64), Pantelic. 

Arsenal: Fabianski(25), Djourou, Vermaelen, Squillaci, Santos(51), Frimpong, Coquelin(67), Benayoun, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Chamakh.
Subs: Mannone(25), Yennaris, Miquel(51), Eastmond, Ozyakup, Rosicky(67), Park.

My man of the match: Yossi Benayoun

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco
Attendance: 32,000

Arsenal return to winning ways with win over Wigan

Arsenal returned to winning ways as they beat Wigan 4-0 on Saturday afternoon at the DW Stadium. Goals from Arteta, Vermaelen, Gervinho and Robin Van Persie sealed the win as Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to seven league games. The Gunners dominated the game from start to finish as they rose to fifth in the table above Newcastle and Liverpool. It was important that Arsenal showed that not just the captain, Van Persie could score goals but others could aswell. The cleansheet was also important as it helped their goal difference rise to 7. There were two changes from the team that faced Fulham the week before as Koscielny came in for Djourou and Gervinho came in for Arshavin. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin were on the bench.

Arteta scored his third Arsenal goal as the Gunners got back to winning ways

 The first chance of the match fell Wigan's way. Jones putting a ball into the box which was beaten away by Szczesny but straight to Gomez who looked as though he was going to score but Santos got an important touch on the ball to send it wide.

Arsenal hadn't really been able to create anything as Wigan looked the more likely in the first part of the match. However 28 minutes in a special strike from Mikel Arteta broke the deadlock. The Spaniard drove a shot from range which beat Al Habsi and found the back of the net.

A minute later Arsenal made it 2-0. Van Persie swung in a corner which found the head of Vermaelen at the back post to double the Gunners lead and for his second goal in as many games.

It was then almost 3-0 as Gervinho found Van Persie inside the box but he saw his effort brilliantly kept out by Al Habsi. Walcott then found the ball at his feet but he could only curl the ball over the bar with his weaker foot.

The score at half time was 2-0 to Arsenal.

The first action of the second half saw a strong penalty claim from Arsenal turned down. Ramsey got into the penalty area and was dragged back by Gohouri but the referee did not give the penalty.

Wigan almost found a way back into the game as Diame cut inside and hit a shot from outside the box but Szczesny was untroubled as the ball bounced just wide.

An hour into the game the Gunners made it 3-0. Van Persie played a one-two with Song before wrong footing two players and unleashing a shot. Al Habsi could only parm the ball away but straight to Gervinho who tapped the ball into an empty net from close range.

Arsenal's next chance fell to Van Persie after the referee played an advantage after Song had been brought down. The captain then managed to find space but only to slice his effort wide of the target.

The game though would not be complete without Van Persie scoring and he did just that with 12 minutues still left to play. Walcott sprinting clear down the right hand side and then beating Caldwell before cutting the ball back to Van Persie to fire home for 4-0 on his 250th Arsenal appearence.

The substitute Yossi Benayoun almost made it five as Arteta played the ball into him but he saw his attempted chip headed away by Caldwell.

The final score finished Wigan 0-4 Arsenal.

The teams lineups:

Wigan: Al Habsi, Gohouri, Caldwell, Figueroa, Stam, McCarthy, Gomez(59), Diame(89), Jones, Moses, Sammon(59).
Subs: Pollitt, Lopez, McArthur(89), Watson, Crusat(59), Di Santo(59), Rodallega.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Santos, Song(80), Arteta, Ramsey, Gervinho(80), Walcott(80), Van Persie.
Subs: Fabianski, Djourou, Coquelin(80), Benayoun(80), Arshavin(80), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chamakh.

My man of the match: Mikel Arteta

Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Attendance: 19,280