Al Habsi denied van Persie after great work from Gervinho. Gervinho had another influential game, he is getting increasingly important to this Arsenal team. He has an upright running style almost like a Gazelle. Willing to twist and turn away from full backs time after time. He is a flair player who you almost expect to throw his arms up when he loses the ball and ignore his defensive responsibilities yet he works harder than most in the red and white. He is continuously on the move, chasing wingers, trying to close down the pass and make the interception. That mixture has instantly made him a favourite of mine in this Arsenal team and I can excuse his profligacy at times. He deserved his goal just after the hour but

Match Report – Wigan 0 Arsenal 4 (Arteta [28], Vermaelen [29], Gervinho [61],  van Persie [78])

Arsenal put in a mature performance at Wigan this afternoon, a performance that could be seen as professional. No player embodies that more than the former Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta. I thought he was magnificent today. We looked a little disjointed from the first whistle, last weeks draw against Fulham and then the resting legs of the first team looked to have made Arsenal’s purring engine go a little cold and it needed plenty of graft and scrapping for possession before the side were running smoothly again.

Mikel Arteta was heavily involved in both sides of Arsenal’s game from start to finish. Arteta, Song and the whole team continued the excellent closing down of the opposition when not in possession and credit to Wigan they are capable of keeping the ball very well at times.

But Arsenal and Arteta started to control the game and dictate the possession. Arteta managed make a total of 97 passes in open play with 85 of those passes finding their intended target (88%). Arteta has this remarkable ability to make the game look very simple and keep the team flowing, with Tomas Rosicky out injured, Mikel Arteta seems to have borrowed the batons and conducted the midfield battle.

What I love about Arteta is his ability to find the pass between the lines, a very important job in this Arsenal team. van Persie dropped deep to collect the ball and Arteta sliced little passes into his feet time and time again. But the Arsenal first goal scored by Arteta was all about Thomas Vermaelen. As we moved the ball around, spaces looked limited until the stylish Belgian strode out from the back and the pitch visibly opened up in a split second, Arteta received Vermaelen’s pass with space ahead of him and fired across Al Habsi into the net. Perhaps the keeper could have done better but as they say, you have to buy a ticket to win the raffle.

A minute later, the game was all but won. A van Persie in-swinging corner was met at the far post and his header was directed away from Al Habsi. That was Vermaelen’s third goal since his return from injury at the end of October. When you consider that he narrowly missed a great chance against West Brom and his near post assist against Borussia Dortmund then it confirms how much of a threat he is in the opposition box. He is far from the tallest central defender in the league but his desire to win the ball in the air, timing and sense of positioning are traits that are missing in this Arsenal team.

Al Habsi denied van Persie after great work from Gervinho. Gervinho had another influential game, he is getting increasingly important to this Arsenal team. He has an upright running style almost like a Gazelle. Willing to twist and turn away from full backs time after time. He is a flair player who you almost expect to throw his arms up when he loses the ball and ignore his defensive responsibilities yet he works harder than most in the red and white. He is continuously on the move, chasing wingers, trying to close down the pass and make the interception. That mixture has instantly made him a favourite of mine in this Arsenal team and I can excuse his profligacy at times. He deserved his goal just after the hour but the credit goes to Robin van Persie who exchanged passes with Alex Song, Cruyff turned his man to the floor, jinked past another before curling a right footed shot to the far corner, Al Habsi palmed the ball out to Gervinho who like Vermaelen, also has a knack of being in the right place at the right time scuffed his shot off the floor and over the sprawling keeper. I hope that releases a bit of the anxiety that he had in front of goal over the last few weeks.

Some of our football after that was just sublime and certainly at least equal to what we played at our best with Cesc and Nasri in the team. One touch, no pressure, full of confidence. van Persie, Arteta, Song, Ramsey, Gervinho and Santos all popped the ball around in triangles and Wigan couldn’t get near us.

The ‘one man team’ headline writers breathed a sigh of relief when van Persie scored his customary goal, the last of the game. Koscielny slid Walcott through and he rode the challenge of the last defender, you could see the choices flashing through Walcott’s mind as he looked up and saw the keeper but he eventually opted for the cut back to van Persie to fire past the keeper.

Arsene rang in the changes after the fourth. Alex Song who had picked up a knock was replaced by Francis Coquelin, Andrey Arshavin and Yossi Benayoun replaced our two wide forwards. It would have been a great opportunity to have given Park his first league outing and also would have been nice for Oxlade-Chamberlain to have had a pressure free last ten minutes but it was not to be.

Arsenal back to winning ways, on a day when Tottenham, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all won so it was vital to keep up with the pack. Plenty of players had very good games which shows the teams current consistency from back to front.

Impressive and entertaining display from the Arsenal.

COYG