- Vermaelen (25), Vermaelen (49), Eboue (59), Fabregas (90)
- Date:2009-09-19
- Kick-off:15:00
- Venue:Emirates Stadium
- Attendance:59103
- Referee:Jones, M
Live Commentary
90mins
Full Time: ARSENAL 4-0 WIGAN: The Gunners cruise to victory over Wigan with a trademark display of slick passing and clinical finishing.
90mins
ARSENAL 4-0 WIGAN: FABREGAS pokes the ball home from Bendtner's cross to wrap up a deserved win.
85mins
Sinclair comes on for Rodallega.
83mins
Thomas heads a Rodallega cross wide of the Arsenal goal.
80mins
Scharner scores for Wigan! But the linesman flags for offside. No goal.
77mins
Sagna's deep cross almost drops in over Kirkland but the Wigan keeper does well to recover.
75mins
Great tackle by Scharner to deny van Persie on the edge of the Wigan box.
73mins
Rodallega tries to curl a shot into the top corner but it's an easy save for Mannone.
71mins
Eboue and Eduardo make way for Rosicky and Bendtner.
71mins
Kirkland palms the ball out for a corner from Ramsey's 25 yard shot. It's all Arsenal now.
69mins
Kirkland makes a good save from Eduardo. Gallas was ready to pounce on the rebound.
66mins
Ramsey takes to the field in place of Diaby.
65mins
Song fires narrowly wide after a fine run through the Wigan midfield.
63mins
Scharner goes into the book for dissent.
61mins
Scotland tries to hold the ball up for Wigan but Diaby takes it off him. Arsenal are looking good.
59mins
ARSENAL 3-0 WIGAN: Game over? EDUARDO hits the post then finishes off the rebound.
58mins
Rodallega hits a shot from the edge of the Arsenal box but Mannone makes a comfortable save.
57mins
Double substitution for Wigan. Scharner and Scotland come on for Koumas and Gomez.
55mins
Boyce clears the ball under pressure from van Persie.
53mins
Gomez is booked for a late tackle on Fabregas.
51mins
Vermaelen is having a great game. Two goals and he's heading everything clear at the back for Arsenal.
49mins
ARSENAL 2-0 WIGAN: A great move by Arsenal ends with VERMAELEN hammering the ball home from the edge of the box.
49mins
Diaby finds Sagna but Figueroa does well to snuff out the danger.
47mins
Gomez sends a long ball into the Arsenal half looking for Rodallega but Clichy sweeps up the danger.
45mins
Arsenal get the second half up-and-running. No changes at the break for either side.
45mins
Half Time: ARSENAL 1-0 WIGAN: Arsenal dominate but only have Vermaelens headed goal to show for their efforts.
45mins
Eduardo should have given Arsenal a 2-0 lead at the break but he couldn't reach van Persie's cross.
44mins
Kirkland makes a good save from van Persie's flick header.
42mins
Gomez fires in a 25 yard shot that Sagna slides in to block.
40mins
Song is booked for a late tackle on Gomez.
37mins
Mannone makes a great save on the line from Koumas but Rodallega can't finish off the rebound. Good chance for Wigan.
36mins
Rodallega races through the Arsenal defence but his shot is blocked by Vermaelen.
34mins
Eboue sends a dangerous low cross into the Arsenal box but there's no-one there to finish it off.
32mins
Diaby is forced to hack clear from Gomez's cross.
29mins
Wigan can't get out of the own half. The home side are on top and it looks like there could be more goals before the break.
26mins
Diaby almost finds van Persie in the Wigan box but Melchiot is there to head clear.
24mins
ARSENAL 1-0 WIGAN: VERMAELEN heads the ball home from Van Persie's corner.
23mins
Van Persie hits a low shot across the Wigan box but Bramble knocks it out for a corner to the home side.
22mins
Eboue is the first player to be booked this afternoon.
21mins
Great save by Kirkland. Van Persie headed it goalwards but the Wigan keeper kept it out with his feet.
19mins
Van Persie knocks the ball wide of the Wigan goal from 6 yards out! Eboue put it on a plate for the Arsenal striker.
17mins
Fabregas curls the ball wide of the Wigan goal. Again, Kirkland was beaten.
16mins
Fabregas fires in a shot from the edge of the box but Boyce gets in a vital block.
14mins
Bramble clears the ball off the line from Diaby's header. Kirkland was beaten but the Wigan defender was in the right place to hack clear.
12mins
Gallas makes a last-ditch challenge on N'Zogbia just as the former Newcastle man was about to shoot in the Arsenal box.
10mins
Van Persie hits a shot high over the Wigan bar.It was a decent chance for the Arsenal striker.
8mins
Koumas plays in Rodallega but Vermaelen gets back to clear the danger.
7mins
Arsenal are already knocking the ball around in midfield. This could be a long afternoon for the Wigan players.
5mins
Kirkland does well to save a low cross-come-shot from Eduardo.
3mins
Gomez flicks the ball on looking for Rodallega but Mannone is quick off his line.
1mins
Song tries his luck with an early shot but the ball flies wide of the target.
0mins
Referee Mike Jones gets the game underway.
0mins
The teams are out at the Emirates. Arsenal will be looking to stop a run of two consecutive defeats in the league. Wigan will be hoping to build on thier home win over West Ham.
0mins
Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Thomas, Diame, N'Zogbia, Gomez, Koumas, Rodallega
0mins
Wigan line-up with the same starting eleven that beat West Ham 1-0 last time out.
0mins
Arsenal: Mannone, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Eboue, Song Billong, Fabregas, Diaby, Eduardo, van Persie
0mins
Arsene Wenger makes two changes to the Arsenal side that beat Standard Liege in midweek. Bacary Sagna and Robin van Persie come in for Tomas Rosicky and Nicklas Bendtner. Rookie keeper Vito Mannone remains in goal.
Match Preview
Arsenal have suddenly slipped to two defeats in Manchester and the early-season momentum that was gathering at the Emirates Stadium has hit a brick wall.
Before the Premier League's kick-off, Arsenal were fancied by many to end the top-four's monopoly on the Champions League by dropping down to a Europa League place.
But after a string of impressive performances, including a 6-1 massacring of Everton, the Gunners were suddenly recognised as a threat to Manchester United's crown.
Then came an unlucky defeat at Old Trafford and a 4-2 loss at Manchester City to leave Arsene Wenger back at square one.
Nobody quite knows where Arsenal will end up this term and it is down to Wenger to get his side's season back on track with a string of wins starting this weekend.
Wigan arrive in north London after an inconsistent start themselves, but new manager Roberto Martinez looks to be getting to grips with his squad at the DW Stadium.
A 1-0 defeat of West Ham last weekend marked progress for the Latics, who will arrive in hope rather than expectation.
Wenger has an overloaded treatment room at present, with both goalkeepers among those who are unhealthy.
Manuel Almunia has a virus, while Lukasz Fabianski has a knee injury which will keep him out of action for another month.
Andrei Arshavin, Carlos Vela, Johan Djourou and Samir Nasri are also certain absentees, while fitness checks will be made on several others.
In contrast, Wigan's only casualty is Olivier Kapo. The midfielder is expected to be out for a further fortnight with a medial knee ligament problem.
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Match Report
Arsenal got back to winning ways in the Premier League with a 4-0 victory against Wigan Athletic that they hardly broke sweat to earn.
Wigan were poor in the extreme. No threat in attack, pedestrian in the middle of the park and with a defence that offered little.
Had it not been for a series of saves from Chris Kirkland, the margin of victory for the Gunners would have been much wider. Thomas Vermaelen netted twice, with Eduardo and Cesc Fabrgas claiming the others.
After a slow start to the game, the best early opportunity came on 14 minutes when William Gallas' header beat Kirkland but was cleared off the line by Mario Melchiot.
Robin van Persie sent a free-kick just wide on 16 minutes, with Kirkland beaten once again but, despite all the football being played in Wigan's half, there was little else to show for the Gunners' good work until that time.
Van Persie should have done better when teed up by Emmanuel Eboue, but the ball bounced off his shin for a goal-kick.
Eboue was in fact becoming Arsenal's main threat and, seconds earlier, had a shot deflected just over the bar. He was then booked as he handled in front of goal when he went to meet Eduardo's cross from the left.
Vermaelen opened the scoring on 25 minutes with yet another headed goal for the Gunners new boy who rose highest to power home van Persie's inswinging right-side corner.
Kirkland kept the deficit to one with two fine saves in quick succession in the 42nd minute. He first blocked van Persie's shot on the run and then saved Eboue's follow-up effort.
Eboue set up Arsenal's second goal on 49 minutes when he returned the ball to Vermaelen who guided a sweet dipping and curling left-foot shot into the top right corner of the net beyond Kirkland's outstretched arm.
Roberto Martinez tried to inject some urgency with a double substitution on 58 minutes, and one of the introductions, Jason Scotland, forced Vito Mannone to make his second real save of the match.
Any hopes of that sparking a revival were gone within seconds when Eduardo made it 3-0, although Eboue could also claim the goal.
The Croat's volley from Gael Clichy's cross struck the base of the right upright before bouncing back to Eduardo whose next effort went in off the calf of Eboue.
With seconds left, Fabregas made it 4-0 when he flicked in a low cross from the right precisely driven in by Nicklas Bendtner.
Arsenal Team
Wigan Athletic Team
Arsenal | Wigan Athletic |
Corners
| 6 | 4 |
Fouls
| 6 | 18 |
Goal attempts
| 23 | 8 |
Shots off target
| 10 | 3 |
Offsides
| 1 | 1 |
88mins
Thomas does well to get the ball off Ramsey and clears the danger.