

Wigan 0 – 4 Arsenal: A Solid, Unspectacular Performance
By: Darren_v | December 3rd, 2011It may sound odd to call a four goal win unspectacular, but that is exactly what it was. And exactly what you want from Arsenal when facing the worst club in the Premier League. It may sound negative, but it’s possibly the best thing you can say about today’s mat
ch.
Arsenal would line up exactly how Brenton described we would in the preview yesterday showing you exactly why you should be reading the match previews. In the first five minutes the only thing of note that happened was a Wigan player tripping the referee up as Arsenal went on a break, but no foul was given as would be the trend for Mark Clattenburg all match. In the sixth minute Wigan really should have gone ahead on the scoreboard when they broke down Arsenal’s right flank and crossed it in for Szczesny to parry away into the path of an onrushing Gomez. Gomez should’ve put the ball into the wide open net, but he scuffed his attempt and Andre Santos was able to make the block. Immediately after that, Arsenal went on the break down the left with Gervinho finding Ramsey in the box who would scuff his chance disappointingly wide as well. Aside from that, the first ten minutes was all Wigan as they dominated the ball with 61% possession and were looking bright on the ball, and Arsenal were looking a bit disjointed when they won the ball back.
There was very little happening though as Arsenal remained solid defensively. Arteta would find Walcott with room down the right hand side and his low, hard cross across the box (reminiscent of Coquelin’s in the Carling Cup v Man City) gave Gary Caldwell problems as he mis-kicked it towards his own goal, but safely into his own keepers arms. Arsenal were slowly gaining a foothold in the match and taking control of the possession game, but creating very little, and the first 25 minutes was uninteresting as the live-blog commentators began to compare the match to the boredom that is baseball.
Nothing was happening when Vermaelen picked the ball up deep in his own half and with absolutely no pressure on him, drove through the middle of the pitch into the Wigan half and laid the ball off to the right side to Arteta. Arteta would take four touches towards goal, and with Wigan backing up further and further and applying no pressure on the ball, he unleashed a powerful shot on goal from 35 yards out and would find the back of the net. It definitely swerved somewhat in the air, but Al Habsi will be wanting that shot back, being slightly out of position and allowing it to slip through his hands. For Mikel Arteta, it was his fourth goal of the season on just six total shots in the Premier League.
And just two minutes later it would be 0-2 to The Arsenal. Robin van Persie took the corner from the right corner flag and curled it to the back post where he found Thomas Vermaelen climbing high above the defender and he nodded the ball into the back of the net. It was the Belgian’s third goal of the season in just seven appearances, and ended Arsenal’s run of 179 corners without a goal from a corner in the Premier league, the last being from Squillaci versus Stoke.
Arsenal would continue to threaten with another corner causing a scramble in the Wigan box which was eventually cleared. Gervinho would make a slaloming through the middle but his passing would fail him in the box. Shortly after that Gervinho would make another great run into the box and this time his pass would find van Persie who’s shot was superbly saved by Al Habsi. Theo’s follow up was lofted just over the bar. In the dying minutes of the half, van Persie terrific through ball sent Gervinho in all alone, Al Habsi timed his rush out to the ball perfectly and forced Gervinho wide and wasn’t able to find the open net. The half would end with Mertesacker completing a text book sliding tackle on the Wigan forward at the edge of the Arsenal box, and Arsenal had turned around a slow half with a dominant performance.
First Half Stats
Wigan Arsenal
81% Pass Acc. 86%
34% Poss. 66%
3 Shots 8
2 On Target 3
The 2nd half would begin with no changes for other side, and and after five minutes Aaron Ramsey should have had a penalty. Ramsey drove into the box with the ball and was blatantly pulled down by the Wigan defender Gohouri. Clattenburg must have lost his whistle as nothing was given and play continued to go, with Ramsey absolutely furious. Just another minute later Caldwell laid a terrible tackle into the back of Ramsey at the halfway line as he received the ball and was majestically shown the yellow card. In the 54th minute Gervinho drove from the left flank and into the middle, sent the ball wide to Walcott. His cross found van Persie at the back post who headed back across the net for Gervinho who was waiting, but was cleared away. Wigan would earn a corner two minutes later and Figueroa’s long range effort from the edge of the box would skim just wide of the post. It was a good effort, and a warning shout to Arsenal that anything could yet happen.
Song would earn a yellow for having a Wigan player run into him in a dangerous position, but Szczesny claimed the free kick very well. Wigan would make a double substitution to attempt to change the scoreline, but it would only change in Arsenal’s favour. van Persie and Song combined on a nice one, two passing move outside the box, from which van Persie faked the shot to loose the defender, cut to his right foot and take the shot which Al Habsi could only parry into the path of the on rushing Gervinho who had the simple task of turning it into the open net. The goal was impressive as Wigan was turning up the pressure in the game so Arsenal did what good teams do. They took possession and held it, producing 33 passes in the build up to the goal, 10 more passes than any goal by any team this season. A few minutes later another one, two in the middle of the pitch and Song was fouled at the edge of the box, but the ball rolled to van Persie who shot just wide when he likely should’ve scored. A rare miss in a great position by the captain.
In the 79minute Arsenal would put the match to bed. Koscielny’s long pass would find Theo in a race with Caldwell. Walcott shrugged off the sliding tackle by the Wigan defender, recover his balance and cut back to van Persie who slammed the bobbling pass into the back of the net with his ‘chocolate leg’ and immediately go to Theo in praise of his poise and unselfishness in front of goal. 0-4 Arsenal, and that singled a triple change with Gervinho, Walcott and Song all going off for Benayoun, Arshavin and Coquelin entering the fray.

'If you didn't pick it up, new song 'he scores when he wants, he scores when he waaaants, Robin van Persie, he scores when he wants'
Benayoun would find himself behind the Wigan defense from a through ball by Arteta over the defense and with the option of passing to a wide open van Persie, he attempted the chip over Al Habsi which was cleared by a defender. The match would die out in truth after that, Arsenal pinging the ball around the pitch to kill time to the tune of Ole’s from the Arsenal fans, which prompted Diame into a cynical foul on Ramsey. Arsenal were not happy, with Vermaelen in particular looking for blood. Martinez wisely subbed Diambe off the field immediately, defusing the situation. The game ended and the Arsenal players reported gave their jerseys to the away fans, or so I read on Twitter.
Full Time Stats
Wigan Arsenal
83% Pass Acc. 89%
35% Poss. 65%
8 Shots 16
2 On Target 7
It was a solid win. Arsenal didn’t look amazing, and there was no one stand-out player on the pitch. The players simply went out and did their job and did it well, while after twenty minutes Wigan were dire and gave Arsenal too much room in the middle of the pitch. If I were to criticize anything it would be the commentator, who continued to display a shocking lack of knowledge of tactics. When a club is playing a 4-5-1 like Wigan was playing, the job of the one striker is to hold the ball up and bring the midfield into play, not expect the players around him at all times. When the ball is sent in from a counter attack and crossed into the box, it’s virtually impossible to truly expect to have more than one or two players in the box. He would then criticize Wigan for getting too close to Arsenal players when they got beat, and the next instant condemn them for giving too much space on the ball. Sorry Mr. Know-Idea-What-Im-Saying, that’s not how it works. The worst had to be in the final stages of the match when Coquelin was rightly shown the yellow card for a poor tackle, and he called Coquelin, Chamberlain….who wasn’t even on the pitch all game long. I suppose I shouldn’t complain however, it’s the first match in a very long time where we did not have to hear about the Arsenal defensive frailities, lack of trophies, how much we miss Cesc and Nasri and how we are too reliant on the brilliance that is Robin van Persie.
It was a total team performance, and with Arsenal already assured top spot in the Champions League, Wenger will be able to play the fringe players in Greece, giving our starters a week worth of rest, and testing the depth of the squad in a typically difficult place to play football and earn a result. Arsenal have now taken 19 points from their last seven Premier matches – same number of points as they took from the previous 18 games. That’s six wins and a draw in the last seven for those counting. (I am counting) Sure, it was only Wigan, but you can only beat who’s on the calendar next, and Arsenal swept them aside easily today.

At final whistle, Szczesny came to away fans, put fingers to lips, we were all quiet & he started singing 'we're by far the greatest team'
Player Ratings:
Szczesny 6.5 – The thing I like about him is he commands his box. He rarely flaps at the ball and just oozes confidence, something that Fabianski and Almunia were unable to do in their tenures as No. 1.
Koscielny 7 – A calm, sure, unassuming game by our best defender this year. Made a beautiful long ball pass in the build up for van Persie’s goal and had a team high 4 interceptions. Confidence cannot be higher than it is right now for the Frenchman, can it?
Mertesacker 7.5 – Had a very solid match and did nothing wrong.
Vermaelen 8 - Already tied for 2nd in the Arsenal Premier League scoring chart with three goals (Gervinho, Arteta). Added an assist today as well and attempted 9 long balls, completing five. He provides a threat in the air and a willingness to drive the ball out of the defense, something that has been sorely missing when he is out injured. Not to mention a fantastic defender.
Santos 7 - Tied Kos for the lead in interceptions for the game at 4 and had a clearance off the line. A solid display and gives Arsenal an attacking dynamic we’ve not had since Ashley Cole left.
Song 7 - Led the team in tackles with five, and just did what he always does.
Ramsey 7 - Had two shots on goal, and should’ve had a penalty given when pulled down. Got hacked down by Wigan players all game, and kept getting up. Could perhaps do more defensively, but was 5/5 on through balls and recorded 3 key passes.
Arteta 8.5 – Scored the goal to open the game up, and played superbly, completed 88% of his 97 passes. He isn’t fast, but his positional awareness is top class. Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Dani Alves and Schweinsteiger are the only players in Europe to record more attempted passes per game than our Spaniard. Only Xavi completes a higher success rate than Arteta’s 90%. Brenton predicted in the preview he would have a good game, and he delivered. (Brenton is also making me point this out so I could go sledding with my kids. Ruthless)
Walcott 7 – A somewhat quiet game for Theo, but did very well to set up van Persie. In Walcott’s career eleven of his 21 assists have been for Robin van Persie, the same exact same as Dennis Bergkamp assisted Thierry Henry for their careers. Not bad.
Gervinho 8 – He is all action whenever the ball comes to him. Virtually always a threat, even if his touch or final ball disappoints. Finally got his goal which was more than well deserved for his efforts of late. Fun fact: Gervinho cost 10.5 mill and has contributed to 8 goals in the EPL (3 goals, 5 assists) while Stuart Downing cost Liverpool 20 mill and has contributed to zero goals.
Van Persie 9 MOTM - Scored yet another goal and assisted on Vermaelen’s goal. Orginally was credited with two assists, but the second was changed to an at fault error for Al Habsi. Actually could’ve scored two more goals, but apparently isn’t as super human as we thought. Lead Arsenal with shots (4) shots on target (3) and key passes (4) and completed crosses (4) all while having the third least amount of touches for the club. Not bad at all. He has now scored or assisted on 40 Premier League goals in 2011, 14 more than any other player in the division.
*All stats not linked courtesy of www.whoscored.com
Some Related Stories:
-
Battlefield 3 Game
-
Rico
-
Felegy
-
Rico
-
brenton
-
Perry S.
-
Darren_V
-
Perry S.
-
Perry S.
-
Gunnerlurker
-
Alexinho
-
brenton
-
Nasty
-
LachlanS
-
FredJacob
-
FredJacob
-
Nasty
-
FredJacob
-
Tfyoung
-
Nasty
-
Ian
-
brenton
-
brenton
-
Rico
-
concerned gunner
-
Georgedb1
-
Patoux21
-
Rico
-
Patoux21
-
Perry S.
-
Rico
-
Rico
-
gunner concerned
-
Rico
-
a concerned gunner
-
Rico
-
Casimir
-
Ian
-
Ian
-
satisfied gunner
-
Rico
-
Nasty
-
Will
-
Patoux21
-
Gigi_man
-
Orion
-
FredJacob
-
Patoux21
-
Kenneth Owusu
-
Nasty
-
Bryan
-
FredJacob
-
FredJacob
-
Gigi_man
-
FredJacob
-
FredJacob
-
Rico
-
Gigi_man
-
gooner gynecologist
-
Gigi_man
-
Tee_sui
-
Will
-
brenton
-
brenton
-
brenton












