Premier League - Arsenal hit back to beat Wigan

Eurosport - Sun, 12 Apr 08:22:00 2009

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

FOOTBALL Arsenal's Theo Walcott (C) scores against Wigan Athletic during their English Premier League match at the JJB Stadium - 0

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

Comment 39 - 58 of 78

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Let's call a cat a cat. The red card should have­ been given and Arsenal wouldn't have won the game.

    From Half A Brain, on Sat 11 Apr 9:11PM

  2. 57 i agree with you man spot on bendtner needs to­ retire man

    From Lubov, on Sat 11 Apr 8:42PM

  3. 57 i agree with you man spot on bendtner needs to­ retire man

    From Lubov, on Sat 11 Apr 8:40PM

  4. 57 i agree with you man spot on bendtner needs to­ retire man

    From Lubov, on Sat 11 Apr 8:38PM

  5. Well People, This Bentdner Issue Needs To Be Put To Bed­ Forever, He Has To Leave He Is A Substandard­ Footballer, Maybe He Would Be Good For A Championship­ Side But He Is NOT Premiership Class, He Has Had His­ Chance But Has Not Delivered... & Shows No Signs Of­ Improvement, His Controll Is Woeful, His Shooting Is­ Abysmol, & His Passing Is Terrible.
    Cmon The Guy Is­ A Giant, He Cant Even Flick A Ball On For Gods­ Sake.
    RVP & Ade On His Day are players who would­ get into any worlds tops club but he is not.
    WELL DONE­ TODAY BOYS KEEP IT UP AND LETS GO FOR 50 UNBEATEN !

    From JEVUS, on Sat 11 Apr 8:27PM

  6. With increasing concentration on the pitch, more and­ more confidence and evdently with some luck you will­ certainly make it for a trophy. Keep it up.
    I am glad­ there is no comment from some bad mannered (no to say­ racist)brat.
    A bon enteneur salut!
    From Harry K. Samboo­ of Mauritius

    From Harry, on Sat 11 Apr 8:16PM

  7. all ye gunners
    gun all

    From Opubo, on Sat 11 Apr 8:13PM

  8. no winger lost

    From rabiu m, on Sat 11 Apr 8:08PM

  9. UP GUNNERS......GUNNERS FOR LIFE ,,,FOREVER GUNNERS.Am­ very happy with the performance of our boys today it is­ quite impressive.I WILL FOREVER BE­ GUNNERS.CHEERS..................................

    From ahmed, on Sat 11 Apr 8:02PM

  10. We are way 2hot 4any team at the moment.If u are gud­ enof to hold us in d 1st half,u can neva hold Arsenic­ warriors in d 2nd.Injury or not,d yellow submarines are­ goin 2travel back 2spain using bicycle wit tears no­ their face.Jus feel 4my homie ;Pires

    From nesta2nextasy, on Sat 11 Apr 7:47PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Gibbs should of been sent off. He was the last man, he­ brought Valencia down and the ref gave the free kick­ which proves he had done something against the rules­ and he was the last man so he should have been sent­ off. That decision could have changed the result for­ us. Steve Bruce is right, the big teams get all the­ decisions. The ref was soooo, I can't even begin to­ describe his idiocy. We need a better strike force­ I'll give it 2 Arsenal, they're excellent and­ quick up front, unlike us. We got an egyptian striker­ gone awol and another 1 that hardly ever scores. And to­ the arsenal fans who were singing 'we pay your­ benefits' after the match. Don't worry, we­ don't want them.

    From laticsgirl, on Sat 11 Apr 7:43PM

  12. Gibbs should of been sent off. He was the last man, he­ brought Valencia down and the ref gave the free kick­ which proves he had done something against the rules­ and he was the last man so he should have been sent­ off. That decision could have changed the result for­ us. Steve Bruce is right, the big teams get all the­ decisions. The ref was soooo, I can't even begin to­ describe his idiocy. We need a better strike force­ I'll give it 2 Arsenal, they're excellent and­ quick up front, unlike us. We got an egyptian striker­ gone awol and another 1 that hardly ever scores. And to­ the arsenal fans who were singing 'we pay your­ benefits' after the match. Don't worry, we­ don't want them.

    From laticsgirl, on Sat 11 Apr 7:40PM

  13. I HAVE EVERY FAITH THEY WILL WIN SOMETHING THIS SEASON

    From Donna, on Sat 11 Apr 7:30PM

  14. hello robopires ive just done a 2 hour journey on the­ train and touched down in waterloo if thats any good­ and im 5ft in clogs but ive got the hairiest of hands­ but im a proud man

    From sharna.jones, on Sat 11 Apr 7:19PM

  15. bendtner a good player but he aint gonna set the world­ on fire,we need every forward who is with us to be able­ to finish two out of four chances at least and he gets­ more than his fair share of chances his been with us­ since 2004 so wenger has seen something in him,hes­ cheap!

    From sharna.jones, on Sat 11 Apr 7:13PM

  16. Arsenal are back in form. Lets see if they play better­ against amazing Villarreal.

    From Nath, on Sat 11 Apr 7:03PM

  17. oh my godness Eurosport should ban those f*cking­ spammers !!!

    From Renan, on Sat 11 Apr 6:48PM

  18. Leave N. Bendtner alone! He has come off the bench a­ couple of times and saved the day for Arsenal. As a­ starter, he thinks he has it made and let his­ concentration go. I am pretty sure he started today to­ give a rest to the some ot the front liners. And goals­ can come from any player in that team. Silvestre,­ anyone?

    From Carl D, on Sat 11 Apr 6:45PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    aaa

    From Will, on Sat 11 Apr 6:36PM

  20. Up Gunners, guys you did a wonderful job. Kudos to­ Walcott, Arshavin, Silvestre and the young Song. I hope­ you guys will be able to repeat the same feat against­ Villareal. GUNNERS 4 LIFE SO SAYS, ADDDEEEEEEEEKO, keep­ it up­ GGGGGGGGGGGuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­ eeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssss 4 Life

    From Adeeko, on Sat 11 Apr 6:36PM
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