It never rains...

It’s funny how much a win can alter one’s perspective. Just eight days ago, nobody would have given us even a sniff of a chance against Arsenal, but a quick smash-and-grab job at the Stadium of Light offered hope that fortunes may be changing for Wigan Athletic. Despite being without their most experienced striker, the out-of-form and out-of-luck Hugo Rodallega, Latics scraped a 2-1 victory from the hands of a lacklustre Sunderland thanks to some dodgy defending on behalf of the Black Cats. Makes a change from our own usual defensive cock-ups, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, regular service resumed at a wet and windy DW Stadium this afternoon as any real possibility of an upset was quashed as early as the half hour mark. Wigan could not get away with more characteristically iffy defending, not against a team as good as Arsenal, and the Latics attack still obviously lacks a talisman.

Martinez stuck with the lineup that had won him four points in two games, with the likes of Crusat, Di Santo and McArthur on the bench to provide some attacking options should the need have arisen. Emmerson Boyce obviously wasn’t fit enough for a return to the squad, so Ronnie Stam would continue to cover on the right of defence for Wigan.

The first half can split into two segments: the first twenty-five minutes, during which Latics enjoyed most of the play, and the last twenty, in which Arsenal asserted some dominance. The main difference between the two spells was that the visitors managed to score, and both of Arsenal’s goals came within a two-minute period around the half-hour mark. They could probably have been avoided, but momentary defensive lapses ensured the Gunners went into half-time 2-0 to the good. They could also have added to their tally, but the visitors just failed to capitalise on the odd dodgy pass and fumbled clearance – most notably Gary Caldwell’s fluffed kick which rebounded off his other leg and trickled into Al Habsi’s waiting arms. A moment of fortune, but Wigan’s luck was about to run out.

It was surprising that Mikel Arteta’s long-range strike managed to evade each and every Latics defender to beat Al Habsi and hit the back of the net. Even more disappointing was Vermaelen’s headed goal just 120 seconds later, another soft goal that the home side could not afford to give away and a stark reminder of our failings this campaign. The game was effectively won there and then, but Wigan didn’t give up. They emerged from the half time break with renewed vigour as they set out to invoke a comeback comparable to that of last year.

As is usual for these situations, however, all-out Wigan attack more often than not leads to an even more open defence, and this was all too evident in the second half. Arsenal managed to double their first half scoreline first through Gervinho, who picked up the scraps of van Persie’s saved strike, then a breakaway effort from the aforementioned Dutch international.

Ronnie Stam did another decent job at right wing back

Arsenal’s goals were punctuated by the odd moment of hope for Latics, but no shots on target in the second 45 represented an even worse return than the first. They did, however, show much more midfield fight and looked a darn sight more sprightly. Ronnie Stam managed to whip in a couple of decent crosses, but nobody was in the right position to nod them over the line.

Albert Crusat, making a late substitute appearance, also caused a couple of problems for the Arsenal defence and was responsible for the odd Wigan break from the halfway line. Once again, however, the finishing touch seemed to be lacking as Conor Sammon and Franco Di Santo found themselves with the monumental task of breaking down a European-quality defence as the sole striker.

In truth, Latics were dominated from the 25th minute to the game’s end, but then you’d kind of expect a team worth £50million, nay, £60million, to do so against a Wigan XI assembled on a relative shoestring. By that token, I suppose the hosts did well enough to keep it to four.

With Wigan back at the bottom of the table –always a likely outcome given Blackburn’s contest with Swansea–, next week’s contest with West Brom takes on extra significance. A win, though not essential just yet, would be extremely welcome indeed given the string of fixtures to come this December.

Gary Caldwell: Simultaneously both hero and villain

Considering some of the cracking football played by our hosts of late, it won’t come as a surprise that I was expecting a major damage limitation exercise this afternoon, a prediction that would (inevitably?) prove a reality.

In the first half, a relatively out-of-form Latics really struggled against the quality of Fabregas, van Persie et al, to the point they had eleven fewer shots on target than their hosts in the first period. In fact, that number amounted to the grand total of one, and it was something of a  miracle that Latics went into the break only a goal down. We have Al Habsi and the Caldwell brothers –playing together in a league game for Wigan for the first time– to thank for that, plus an odd decision or two  in front of goal from Walcott, who, when one-on-one with the keeper, decided to pass when it looked easier to score. Not that we were complaining, oooh no.

If it weren’t for the Omani’s six or seven (eight?) saves, this would have been excruciating stuff to watch. As it was, things were still pretty painful, and perhaps most cutting of all was van Persie’s 21st minute goal. The Dutchman finished sublimely after timing his run to perfection, beating both Caldwells and stealing in for a much deserved lead.

Surprisingly, that would be it for goals in the first 45. Fabregas and the aforementioned Walcott both had excellent chances, but somehow bits of British and Omani defiance (now there’s an alliance if ever I saw one) conspired to keep everything out by hook, crook, luck and pluck. Often it was a case of fortune rather than good judgement, but the fact remained we were only 1-0 down. Arsene Wenger didn’t seem pleased anyway.

Latics came out for the second half vastly rejigged. A more flexible 4-4-2 style formation, quite like the one we reverted to in the second half against Fulham, saw James McArthur and Franco Di Santo introduced to the piece, and boy did it have an effect on our attacking play. Well, it wasn’t out of this world or even good enough to score, but it sure was an improvement on what we’d seen previously.

Di Santo, who accounted for the majority of our chances today, hasn’t quite found his shooting boots (or heading helmet) so far, but at least he’s showing a bit more promise than certain other attackers and it’s nice to have more than one forward fit again. In fact, we might soon be spoilt for choice with Victor Moses set for a return in the next couple of weeks. Oh, what an embarrassment of riches!

The Gunners continued on their merry way, and whilst they didn’t create as many clear cut chances as they did in the first half, still dominated to the extent the visitors would only have 42% of the game’s overall possession. And that’s taking into account the fact Arsenal sat back and relaxed once the second goal went in. Again, it came via the boot of van Persie, who was once again absolutely on fire with his finishing, slotting past the Wigan keeper first time on the volley with his left foot. You can’t account for that sort of stuff, it’s far too good for even Ali Al Habsi. In fact, with Persie snaffling a third on 85 minutes, he was certainly the man that made the difference this afternoon, where the scoresheet was concerned anyway.

The Arsenal vice captain could have even had four, but only managed to sky a penalty way over the bar thanks to what was surely a slip in his run up – at least I bet that’s what he claimed. Perhaps significantly, Gary Caldwell was red carded for his challenge on Cesc Fabregas between the penalty spot and the edge of the area in conceding the pen. It was somewhat surprising that, considering it was the first proper decision he had to make, ref Kevin Friend awarded the Scot a straight red, seeing how reluctant he was to get his cards out the rest of the game. Hmm, might be worth an appeal, methinks.

Both sides seemed to settle for 2-0, and even though van Persie would complete a fantastic hat trick, squeezing the ball off Al Habsi’s right hand into a very narrow blind side area of the net, things were rather uneventful in those last ten minutes or so. Thank goodness for that, eh?

Damage limitation exercise successfully completed? I’m not sure, but console yourself in the fact that at 5pm there was still a chance that we could finish the weekend outside the relegation zone if Aston Villa lost by four or more goals in their evening game. As I type, this match is yet to kick off but if Man City were to complete a very comfortable win it’d be an unexpected bonus for us to actually move up the table after losing 3-0.

Speaking of Villa, we have them at the Dee Dubya for a rescheduled game in a few days time. Looks like Emmerson Boyce will be reintroduced in the absence of Gary Caldwell, and Martinez recognised that today by giving the Barbadian 13 minutes at the end of the game. He must also start with Di Santo, in my opinion, and ditch the tactics which have served us so poorly in the first halves of our last two games. Whether he will or not is a different story, but you’d think it’s pretty obvious it isn’t getting us very far right now.

Instrumental at the back: Gary Caldwell had a big hand in Wigan's second goal

Before yesterday evening, Latics’ record stood at nineteen points from eighteen games. I’d speculate that given the strength of the lower half of the league, a point a game wouldn’t be enough to see us through to 2011–12, but a little bit more than that may well be. A similar run of results in the second half of the season will see us finish up on 40 points, which should be enough, I’d say.

But certain critics have already written us off, perhaps most notably El Tel, who reckons we’ll finish rock bottom due in part to Martinez’s inexperience at this level but also some of the right turkeys (somewhat apt considering the current time of year) he’s signed. Which you have to admit to, but this year’s campaign is far from over, and I wouldn’t exactly say we’re ‘doomed’ only half way through the season. We may be struggling in and around the relegation places right now, but I’d challenge you to find anyone with any sort of intelligence who realistically thought we wouldn’t.

Well, maybe that’s a bit unfair. Had Di Santo and Boselli been half the goalscoring demons they were played up to be, we would sit mid-table right now. Not exactly comfortable, but in a slightly better position than we are at the moment. A win over Blackpool on the opening day of the season plus an extra win somewhere else along the line and we’d be talking about Europe, even.

If the season were played out on home form alone, we wouldn’t be doing that great in comparison to every other team in the league. That said, the familiarity of our home patch seems to instil a certain amount of confidence, something pleasingly evident in the opening stages last night.

From the word go, Latics seemed up for the challenge, Charles N’Zogbia immediately whizzing one across the face of the 6-yard area. Nobody was there to meet it, however, something of a familiar sight this season. Just a minute later, Tom Cleverley put in a fantastic ball which Rodallega missed by mere inches; had he made contact with head rather than shoulder I’m sure it would have been 1–0.

It wasn’t long, though, before the home side actually were a goal to the good thanks to the boot of Ben Watson, who expertly finished from the penalty spot. Wish he could have taken the one at West Ham. Though there was a touch of controversy about the awarding of a penalty rather than a free kick, in real time it seemed as though Koscielny’s contact on N’Zogbia was made inside the box. Replays don’t fully back this up, but we aren’t about to turn down such a Christmas gift any time soon. I’m going to put it down to a good piece of gamesmanship by Charles – a lesser man wouldn’t have even been able to get a free kick in such a situation.

Shock of shocks, Wigan were ahead and looking the better side at this stage. As the half progressed, however, the balance of power slowly began to switch in Arsenal’s favour as they managed to string together some decent passes instead of giving it away every two minutes. Latics had nothing to feed on as it seemed every rebound was falling to the feet of a waiting Gunners man.

Indeed it was in this manner that the visitors grabbed the equaliser. A fantastic save from Al Habsi –his second of the evening– fell to Arshavin who finished excellently from the edge of the area. The visitors were on the up, a fact confirmed by their second goal less than five minutes later. After a bit of bouncing around in the area, the ball fell to Nicklaus Bendtner’s feet just yards from goal, and he didn’t miss. Well, he couldn’t, really.

Latics had their first real attack for ages on the stroke of half time, which Arsenal deservedly went into a goal to the good. The question was, could Wigan hold out and somehow scrape an equaliser? In the event, Wigan needed not worry for the visitors weren’t quite as good in the second half. Or should that be, Latics were equal to everything the Gunners could throw at them? A bit of both, in truth – some fantastic bits of individual defending from Caldwell, Alcaraz and Al Habsi all kept Bendtner and Arshavin at bay for much of the game.

Set piece king: Ben Watson

Martinez’s side were once again looking to do what they’ve done in pretty much every game since mid-2009, and that’s hit their opponents on the break. It almost worked on occasion, most notably when Charles N’Zogbia sprinted into the Arsenal penalty area and brushed aside two defenders with relative ease. You wouldn’t have been surprised to see his shot hit the back of the South Stand net, but Fabianski managed to claw the ball from just above his nose.

With Wigan gradually working their way back into things and the game intriguingly poised, things boiled over –from pretty much nowhere– on 78 minutes as Charles N’Zogbia saw red for an almost unprovoked headbutt on Jack Wilshere. It was entirely needless and seemed to be sparked by something as little as Wilshere shouting in the Frenchman’s general direction… maybe he was singing Insomnia by Feeder or something.

It may prove to be his last game for the club, what with the transfer window imminent and looming large like a great big looming thing. It’d be a shame for his last action to be such a petulant, negative one considering everything he’s done for us in his time at Wigan, though to be honest if more of last night’s antics is on the menu then I’d take that 8million from Villa right now.

Just as we were cursing Zog’s stupidity, Latics made the perfect response. A fantastic Ben Watson corner found Rodallega at the back post, who headed across goal for Gary Caldwell to muscle the ball over the line. Though the record books will credit Squillaci with an own goal, and indeed the Frenchman undoubtedly had the last touch, it really should have been Caldwell’s simply for his uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. I’m gonna award him the goal even if the FA won’t.

Just like in April, Arsenal’s patient build up play wasn’t exactly conducive to the quick goal, and with less than ten minutes remaining there was no time for them to do so and Latics saw out the draw for what could be a crucial point.

However, and this is a big one, Wigan managed to escape conceding a last-minute penalty in what could have been a huge moment in a hard-fought game.  Somehow the officials missed a blatant handball by James McArthur who deflected Samir Nasri’s free kick away for a corner… off the palm of his hand! It was almost as bad as Birmingham’s equaliser against Manchester United on Monday night, but I’m going to avoid that argument for the time being.

In fact, all these controversial escapades have tired me out so I’m going to leave it at that for the time being. With still more vital fixtures still to be played out this New Year period, we are only just getting warmed up. All the better reason to conserve your energy for a big push against Newcastle on Sunday afternoon, so go and have a mince pie and some meat and tater and I’ll see you back here on Bank Holiday Monday.

Victor Moses: Out of luck

Ever wondered exactly why the Carling Cup exists? Neither have I, really, but it’s interesting to learn England’s League Cup was created as a midweek competition for teams with floodlit grounds. It may seem a gimmicky premise, but these days there’s a Europa League spot up for grabs so you can’t really label it a Mickey Mouse Cup, as it was known for so many years.

A quick look at Latics’ previous games in this competition revealed a distinct pattern: three home games against teams in lower leagues, three wins. Only the Hartlepool tie could be termed comfortable, however, so luck of the draw was certainly on our side. This changed in a moment when we got Arsenal in the Quarters, but hey, at least we were pretty much guaranteed to be put out by a Premier League team now, sparing us the shame of a giant killing. If such a thing could ever exist in the Carling, for which only the top four divisions are eligible.

So how would Martinez treat this trip to London? With an important Premier League game against Stoke imminent, would he succumb to temptation and rest his star men, or play his full strength team and give it a right good go? Past experience would have suggested the former, and I wasn’t at all surprised Bob decided on exactly that. A loss on Saturday, as I alluded to the other day, would stick us right in the swamp again.

Antolin Alcaraz, returning from a one-game ban, was paired with Steve Caldwell at the back, whilst Watson, McArthur and Thomas were all handed starts. Mauro Boselli, who scored in his last Carling Cup outing against Swansea, was preferred to Franco Di Santo up front, which would seem to suggest the Ten Million Dollar Man is below his fellow countryman in the pecking order, at least for the moment. Victor Moses was also given a chance after a long string of substitute appearances, and not before time I’d say. Al Habsi, Gohouri, Figueroa and Stam completed a vastly rejigged Latics line-up.

Arsenal would have the game’s first opportunity just one minute into the first half through Nicklas Bendtner, who came close with a header just past Al Habsi’s right hand post.

A lively-looking Victor Moses created Latics’ first chance on 8 minutes, and promised to cause Arsenal a few problems around their own penalty area. This was almost immediately followed, however, by a spell of Arsenal pressure with play camped in the Wigan half, the home side winning a series of free kicks in advanced positions and starting to get some shots in on Al Habsi’s goal.

This pressure came to a head on 27 minutes when Carlos Vela, free of the Latics defence, found himself one on one with the opposition keeper. He would only succeed in putting the ball wide, though, and Arsenal’s frustration continued.

Antolin Alcaraz inadvertently gave the Gunners a 42nd minute lead

Wigan’s attack were similarly irritated, unable to make any inroads. They weren’t helped by an injury to Victor Moses, who seemed to fall over his own feet and fall on his arm, ending his evening out at the Emirates after 38 minutes. Gordon Bennett.

Arsenal had the ball in Latics’ net –via Antolin Alcaraz– on 42 minutes as Wigan’s fortunes took another turn for the worse. The visitors came close to striking back within a minute or two as Mauro Boselli almost forced the ball over Szczesny’s goal line, but no such luck would be forthcoming.

At half time, 1–0 Arsenal was a fair reflection of the action so far with the Gunners certainly having the better of things, and as more news of Moses’ injury began to filter through, it was all becoming as grim as the London weather. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it seems and Victor’s back sooner rather than later, because he deserves at the very least a Premier League start. After all, Gary Caldwell might be back for this weekend’s clash with the Potters, and they initially thought he’d be out for months.

The next twenty minutes went perfectly for Arsenal. They didn’t manage to score, but never looked like conceding and always threatened. In fact, it wasn’t long before they did double their lead through Bendtner. As is usual in this situation, you felt the game was all but over and it wouldn’t be long before the inevitable Latics collapse, a lingering threat that’s become all too prevalent in recent years.

Although Wigan tried to come back at their hosts, very little would prove the slightest bit effective. The perfect opportunity, then, to give a reserve player or two a run-out in the first team. Indeed, Callum McManaman would replace Ronnie Stam on 79, and in his brief foray into top-level football actually made some impression – or at least as much as many of his fellow Laticsmen.

The last ten minutes became a training ground-style exercise in damage limitation in more ways than one, with the weather becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. A night to forget for sure, but I’m certain we will and very quickly too. Yeah, it’s usually the case with the Carling Cup – unless you actually go on to win the thing outright, in which case there’s a slight chance you might remember something from the campaign.

All in all, it has been a jolly cup run spoiled by the eventual need to compete with the big boys. Boo! We knew it would come at some point, but boo nevertheless! It would have been nice to make some more progress, but we all know the league is what we should be focusing on this season; winning the Carling doesn’t earn you a place in Prem for 2011. Besides, if we keep losing players to injuries at this rate we may well be forced to forfeit our 3rd Round FA Cup tie at the beginning of January.

• BBC Match report

Wigan will beat Arsenal? A load of old balls. Balls, geddit?

“Oh, good,” I thought, “Arsenal are being so nice as to play the bungling Sol Campbell in the centre of defence to allow us a sniff of a chance.” It was only that, though, a thin sliver of light peering over the top of the mountain you could just about make out if you squinted.

In reality, though this was a far from full strength Arsenal team, I think most if not all present at the DW Stadium fully expected The Gooners to paste the ailing Latics into a fine pulp which they would then use to plaster ten foot posters of Arsene Wenger all around the borough. Probably not of him doing his now trademark arm waving motion, however, because that makes him look too much like a chicken.

This was the same team that struggled to hit the target against Portsmouth, with the notable exceptions of Moreno back in for Scotland and, most tellingly, Ben Watson returning to the first team in place of the sulking Paul Scharner. After the antics of Wednesday, speculation over his future at the club has been rife, with reports of a bust-up with Martinez dominating the back pages of local papers and garnering some column inches in certain national ones as well.

Thus, it wasn’t really a surprise to see Scharner omitted from the teamsheet. His replacement, called back from a loan spell at West Brom at short notice, had been gifted a chance to prove to Roberto he has a role to perform in this Latics side.

On a personal level, I don’t see what Watson did wrong to deserve being hauled out to Championship clubs for the most part of this season, a viewpoint somewhat justified by his welcome presence in the centre of midfield yesterday. He was many peoples’ man of the match, in fact, and no doubt will now be above Scharner in the pecking order not only for that centre-of-the-park controlling role but the half time Jaffa Cakes as well.

As for the big Austrian’s future, who knows. I would say it isn’t looking likely he’ll renew his contract when it expires at the end of the season, not at this rate anyway. Perhaps the aforementioned West Brom beckons, or maybe even retirement?

That’s a talking point for another day, however, especially since the events of Sunday afternoon far outshadowed any negativity built up in the past week. Many people, myself included, were so incredibly dejected by Wigan’s inability to put away what was essentially a Championship reserve team we wouldn’t have ever foreseen the unprecedented scenes that unfolded late in the game at the Dee Dubya yesterday. And what a magical fifteen minutes they were, too.

Who?: The Arsenal bench was looking decidedly understrength

Latics began brightly, dominating the first twenty minutes possession-wise, but emerged with only a couple of shots on goal to show for it. The closest they came was via a Ben Watson corner, which somehow evaded each and every defender and, most crucially, stand-in keeper Lukasz Fabianski. Make a note of this for later on. Had Rodallega been a might quicker off the mark at the back post, he may well have placed the ball into the opposition net to give Wigan the perfect start. Promising, but no proverbial stogie.

Shortly after, Arsenal earned themselves a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, but only succeeded in finding the waiting arms of Chris Kirkland with a line of three attackers just outside the six yard box tantalisingly close to an easy chance.

This opportunity would spark a spell of Arsenal pressure and two excellent chances for Theo Walcott, perhaps the visitors’ best player on the afternoon. Unfortunately for Latics, he would take his second opportunity with just five minutes left to the break, capitalising on a piece of lax defending from Figueroa and Gohouri.

It’s fair to say Walcott was the difference between the two teams going into half time, not only goal-wise but the way he caused the Wigan defence so many problems on more than three occasions. After this, however, he didn’t really have the chance to show the same cutting edge he exhibited in the first period. This was because Arsenal were 2-0 up just five minutes into the second half thanks to a Mikael Silvestre header — we’ll gloss over the defending that could well be to blame for this — and Wenger had switched to a more laid back, defensive strategy to see out the remaining forty minutes or so.

As was to be proved, however, it was a dangerous game to play. Despite being two goals down, you couldn’t ever say Wigan were completely out of it with so much time left to play and especially considering the positive intent they’d exhibited just prior to the second goal hitting the back of Kirkland’s net. A nice passing movement led to a penalty appeal for a tug back on Ben Watson, but Referee Lee Mason was hardly going to give a foul for something so weak, especially not to little Wigan. Replays showed that there was indeed contact, but Watson went down a bit easily for the officials’ liking.

Up in lights: Ref Lee Mason didn't exactly endear himself to the fans

Besides, Arsenal had a penalty appeal of their own turned down in the first half, so it would be kind of hypocritical, nay foolish, for any referee worth his salt to find in favour of the smaller team and risk the wrath of the Big Four. I would say neither incident was a penalty anyway, though that’s with the benefit of hindsight and a television replay, but you can bet your life I was seething at the time.

No matter, though, because just a minute later Silvestre had Arsenal’s second and, you would think, decisive goal. But as the game progressed, Wigan came more into things, perhaps sparked by the introduction of Victor Moses for Marcelo Moreno; Rodallega took up a more central role with the midfielders joining in attacks as needed. Which, as it turned out, was pretty much all of the last twenty minutes, because Arsenal didn’t quite look the attacking team they had been in the first stanza.

Wenger had a tough last ten minutes on his hands. Hands, geddit?

With Wigan now pushing for what could be an important goal — remember, things could still come down to goal difference, especially with Chelsea to come on the final day of the season — the crowd sensed that if the home side could snatch one goal back, the last ten minutes would be interesting. As it happened, things were extremely interesting, at least if you’re a Wigan supporter.

After an enterprising run from Moses, Ben Watson somehow found the ball at his feet and slotted it nicely past two Arsenal defenders on 79 minutes. Game on again, and Arsene Wenger responded by bringing the more defensive-minded Emmanual Eboue on in place of Theo Walcott, who, just like most of the Arsenal team, hadn’t threatened as much as he did in the first half.

Latics continued to press, but time was beginning to run out. On 88 minutes, with the ball bouncing about in the Arsenal penalty area, Hugo Rodallega almost found himself with the goal at his mercy, but an excellent saving header from Diaby prevented the ball from falling nicely at the Colombian’s feet. This would surely have been an equaliser, and one nobody would have anticipated just ten minutes earlier. The Gunners defence was now looking decidedly shaky under some actual goalmouth pressure, and their win was far from assured, even with but minutes left to play.

Wigan would not have to worry for much longer, however. Very soon after, following a Charles N’Zogbia corner, Titus Bramble seemed to head a fumbled Fabianski catch over the goal line. There was a brief moment of tension before the referee signalled the ball had indeed crossed the line, and madness ensued.

With just one minute left to play, Latics were back on level terms and, unbelievably, searching for a winner. They couldn’t, could they? Well, minds were cast back to the magnificent victories over Liverpool and Chelsea at the DW earlier in the season, and with the crowd now spurring Wigan forward, it certainly wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

I’m sure 75% of the stadium would have more than settled for a point at that stage, but incredibly, it wasn’t over just yet. As the fourth official raised his board to indicate an additional four minutes of injury time, Maynor Figueroa launched another long, booming ball upfield, finding Hugo Rodallega, who laid a short pass to N’Zogbia. The Frenchman took advantage of some shellshocked Arsenal defending to curl a shot in off Fabianski’s right hand post for a glorious, glorious goal in the 91st minute of the game.

Cue a ten-man pile on from the Latics players and unprecedented celebrations at the DW. The Chelsea and Liverpool wins were special, but in my opinion, the moment the ball hit the net for Wigan’s third far outshines the rapturous scenes at the final whistle in both those games and, dare I say it, the moment Latics were promoted to the Premiership.

Arsenal had absolutely no answer, and with just three minutes of stoppages to play the result was all but sealed. The remaining time verily flew by as all the tension that had built up in the four weeks since the Burnley game exploded in a cacophony of noise the likes of which may never be heard again this side of the River Dougie. Martinez made a second substitution to waste a bit of time, but with the final whistle imminent it wasn’t entirely necessary.

Yes, it was an understrength Gunners side still reeling from the defeat of Tottenham in midweek, but the history books will only record that Little Wigan beat Arsenal 3-2. Will it be enough to keep us up? Probably, but I think we’d best leave those worries for another day, because I get the feeling it’ll be a long time before this one sinks in.

Van Persie: below his usual high standard

Before this afternoon’s game, all the talk was of Robin Van Persie. I have no idea why, because he was perhaps the single worst player on the field today — worse even than vast majority of the Latics players — kicking thin air and falling over at the slightest hint of physical contact. For this reason, here at JWAW towers we shall henceforth refer to him as ‘Van Pantsie’.

As it transpired, his team-mates more than made up for things, and Arsenal could most likely have beaten Wigan with ten men today. It was a relative unknown that grabbed the headlines in the form of Thomas Vermaelen as Arsenal’s Belgian central defender bagged himself a brace. After the second goal went in just a few minutes after the half time break, Wigan went completely flat and there was an air of resignation; after the third goal, even more so.

Latics did manage to find some passing form in the latter parts of the first half and looked to be coming back into things as the 45 minute mark approached, even if they could, and maybe should, have been at least a couple down. There were more chances for Wigan — albeit after the fact — in the last twenty minutes of the game as Arsenal looked to sit back and relax, and rightly so, they earned it.

Paul Scharner managed to bundle the ball home with a few minutes left on the clock, but was ruled offside, and this pretty much summed up Wigan’s eminently forgettable day out in London. Hugo Rodallega had a couple of clear cut chances that both ended in the arms of the goalkeeper, and if he had stuck at least one of them away at 2-0, things may have turned out different. As it happened, Latics were comprehensively beaten once more.

Again, however, it’s worth remembering that you don’t lose any points for getting hammered, at least not under the current rules of the Premier League. As I said last week, this is Roberto’s settling in period, and nobody really expected good things from today’s match. It’s a steep learning curve for any new Premier League manager, let alone one with ambitions as high as Martinez. At the risk of repeating myself, be patient, people.

• Official Latics match report
• BBC match report

Image courtesy postproduktie.nl.