Rate it!

67 votes

Arsenal came from behind to win 4-1 at Wigan Athletic and cement their grip on fourth place in the Premier League.

Mido had given the home side the lead at the JJB Stadium with an 18th-minute strike but second-half efforts from Theo Walcott and substitute Mikael Silvestre earned Arsene Wenger's side the lead.

Injury-time goals from Andrey Arshavin and Alexandre Song gave the scoreline a flattering look and saw the Gunners extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches.

It was a Jekyll and Hyde performance from the Gunners who were lucky to be only one down at half-time and fortunate they had a full complement of players after young full-back Kieran Gibbs hauled back Antonio Valencia with the Wigan player seemingly having a clear sight of goal.

The incident summed up a sluggish first-half from the Londoners with Wenger missing absent trio Manuel Almunia, William Gallas and Gael Clichy whilst leaving Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor on the bench.

And the visitors' defensive uncertainty was punished when they failed to deal with Ben Watson's corner. Emmerson Boyce headed the ball across goal and Bacary Sagna only half-cleared the ball to Mido whose close-range scissors kick went under Lukasz Fabianski.

Arsenal were limited as an attacking force with Chris Kirkland not being troubled by Cesc Fabregas's attempted chip, a weak Nicklas Bendtner header when well-placed and a shot that was dragged wide by the Dane.

They suffered a further headache at the back as Johan Djourou was stretchered off after his knee seemed to buckle from under him and he was replaced by Silvestre.

Indeed it was Silvestre who had Arsenal's best chance of the first half but he failed to make a good contact with the goal gaping after Wigan failed to deal with Fabregas's chip.

Then came the big talking point of the match as Gibbs attempted to head back to his keeper but failed to get enough purchase on the ball and wrestled down Valencia.

Referee Wiley adjudged that Silvestre was coming around on the cover and showed only a yellow, but it looked a clear goalscoring chance for the Latics winger - and there was further agony for Wigan as Watson hit the post from the resulting free-kick.

More hesitant defending after the break almost saw a second for a Wigan but a brave header from Mido - as both Silvestre and Fabianski left a long ball to each other - was cleared off the line by Gibbs and the collision between the Egyptian striker and the Arsenal goalkeeper ended his afternoon.

Wigan lost the focal point of their attack and Arsenal levelled on the hour when Bendtner flicked a long ball on to Arshavin who took a tumble in the penalty area but managed to smuggle the ball to Walcott in the right channel who produced a clinical finish.

The Gunners ran riot after the introduction of Van Persie and Adebayor with Silvestre giving the visitors the lead after 71 minutes, a simple tap-in for the French defender after Arshavin and Fabregas worked an opening from a throw-in.

Wigan sub Olivier Kapo had a rare sight of goal after a poor clearance from Gibbs but he dragged his 20-yard effort wide before Arshavin struck the far post only for Van Persie's follow-up to be ruled out for offside.

Arsenal put some gloss on the scoreline in injury-time as Jason Koumas intercepted Adebayor's pass, intended for Fabregas, but only succeeded in giving the ball straight back to Arshavin who fired home.

In injury time Song ran through some tired tackles from Paul Scharner and Titus Bramble to slot home Arsenal's fourth and give them a boost ahead of the Champions League return with Villarreal.

Lee Walker / Eurosport