Emphatic Second Half Four Arsenal Downs Wigan's Europe Ambitions

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will have no doubt looked at this fixture as an opportunity to rest a host of key personnel ahead of what will no doubt be a crucial week ahead for the Gunners.

The north London side entertain Villarreal in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final, before attempting to negotiate their route to the FA Cup final, as they face Chelsea in the semis the following weekend.

Some changes to Wenger's line-up were forced, while others would have been made in order to combat individual fatigue.

All did not go to plan, though, as the red and white army fell behind in the 18th minute due to a close-range finish from former Tottenham Hotspur striker Mido.

Arsenal levelled the tie via Theo Walcott, prior to Mikael Silvestre getting the side's second in the 70th minute. Andrey Arshavin and Alexandre Song sealed the win with a goals moments before the final whistle.

The initial swordmanship that ensued after the referee Alan Wiley signalled the start of the game swayed more to Arsenal's favour, but Latic glovesman maintained a good command of his area, to thwart any away advantage that could have broken out from the corner-kicks.

Wigan had their own chances from set-play too, and were ahead after just 18 minutes when Scharner sent in a dead ball to Mido, who made no mistake of finding the net from close range.

The lead cemented Wigan's upper-hand, and the home team had a plethora of opportunities to double their score, but Scharner failed to connect with a low-driven box-bound ball, and Ben Watson - one of Steve Bruce's winter recruits - hit the post from a free kick moments before the half-time break.

Wigan were made to rue their missed chances, as Arsenal returned to the field-of-play with all guns blazing.

Arsene Wenger's men found the equaliser on the hour mark after some good fortune in a rather scrambly-encounter in the box led to Arshavin getting a touch on the ball that Theo Walcott capitalised on.

Ten minutes later, Arsenal had the lead for the first time in the match. Some excellent build-up play saw Mikael Silvestre - never the most prolific of defenders - guide the ball home from the back post, and Arsenal were 2-1 up.

Andrey Arshavin made it three just moments before the game's death as he struck from outside the area, to score his third league goal in Red. The rout was not complete, though, until Alexandre Song took advantage of a Francesc Fabregas assist to finish round Kirkland from inside the penalty area.

 

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Watson, Brown, Rodallega, Scharner, Mido.

Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Toure, Djourou, Gibbs, Walcott, Denilson, Song Billong, Arshavin, Fabregas, Bendtner. 

Goal-Scorers: Mido (18); Walcott (61); Silvestre (71); Arshavin (90); Song (90).

Attendance: 22,954

Referee: Alan Wiley

Steve Michaels, Goal.com