Arsenal have moved to fifth on the Premier League table with a comfortable 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic at a rainy DW Stadium.
The Gunners netted twice in each half to make it six wins from their past seven outings (one draw) which allowed them to go past Newcastle United who fell to fifth following their 3-0 loss to Chelsea earlier today.
Arsene Wenger's men rode out a strong start from Roberto Martinez' Wigan but finally got their act together to put four past the Latics defence with goals from Mikel Arteta, Thomas Vermaelen, Gervinho and of course Robin van Persie.
After a shaky start, Arsenal finally kicked into gear and opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Arteta was given far too much space in midfield allowing him to advance towards goal to unleash a well-hit shot from just outside 20 yards which whizzed by Ali Al Habsi.
Less than two minutes later, the Gunners were two to the good when van Persie's corner from the right was met by Thomas Vermaelen at the far post and his neatly placed header was on target to sneak in past Al Habsi to add to his goals at both ends in the 1-1 draw with Fulham last weekend.
Wigan started to edge back into the contest, although they were completely toothless up front, before the Gunners struck for a third time just after the hour-mark through Gervinho. He and van Persie played a neat one-two with the Dutchman shaking and weaving in the area before finally seeing his attempt saved by Al Habsi with the ball falling to Gervinho who tucked home to essentially wrap up proceedings.
It appeared as though Arsenal would be again on the scoreboard as they continued to cause trouble for Wigan and a fourth goal came with just over ten minutes left when Theo Walcott won a foot race with Gary Caldwell to take control of the ball deep in the area. His cut-back for van Persie was finished by the skipper with a bobbled right-footed shot for his 14th of the season.
The rest was academic as the rain fell with the Gunners playing the ball around for fun much to the delight of the travelling supporters who hung around as the Wigan fans left in droves.
Martinez now faces a tough challenge to get his players up and about after a demoralising loss which saw them seldom test Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny with the result seeing them drop to the bottom of the league table following Blackburn Rovers' 4-2 over Swansea City.
TRIBAL ASKS: Are Arsenal capable of a top-four finish now they have both their defensive and attacking games up and running? Will Martinez be the next manager to go?
Wigan Athletic: 0 Arsenal: 4 (Mikel Arteta 27', Thomas Vermaelen 29', Gervinho 61', Robin van Persie 78')
DW Stadium, Wigan - 19,280
Yellow cards:WIG - Gary Caldwell 52', Steve Gohouri 73', Mohamed Diame 88' ARS - Alex Song 57', Francis Coquelin 86'
