Three wins on the bounce!

Wigan 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal recorded their third straight Premier League victory in a testing match against relegation threatened Wigan on Saturday. The Gunners were certainly not at their best, but managed to secure all three points none the less, thanks to a second half penalty, dispatched by Mikel Arteta.

Roberto Martinez’s side were warranted in feeling hard done by at the final whistle, having produced a fine performance to restrict Arsenal from building their attacks from the back. The most important aspect of the Gunners game is the pass from defence into the midfield. If the midfielder receiving the ball is allowed time to turn and pick out a forward pass, then Arsenal can dictate the play and control the game. Therefore, more often than not, the opposition focus on pressing the ball as soon as the ball is played forward by the defence. As a result, the midfielder receiving the pass, either ends up losing possession, enabling the opposition to immediately threaten the Arsenal goal, or having to play the ball back, leaving the Gunners unable to build momentum with their play often becoming languid and lethargic. Reading made the mistake of sitting back and were duly punished for it, Wigan were not prepared to commit the same error.

In the first half in particular, the home side easily won the midfield battle, as the tackles flew in time and time again. Arsenal’s only player with any real fight was Jack Wilshere. The young Englishman has the heart of a lion and has such pride and courage that he is more than willing to put his body on the line for the cause. Unfortunately the Gunners do not possess more players with his exceptional hunger and therefore Wilshere ends up trying to win the midfield battle by himself.  As he throws himself into tackle after tackle, he inadvertently runs the risk of either suffering an injury or receiving a red card. During Saturday’s game Wilshere was unfairly shown a yellow card for a wonderfully committed and well timed tackle in which he won the ball cleanly and the worry was that a second yellow would follow. Yet in a sign of his growing maturity he managed to escape a second caution and was simply exceptional throughout. The fact he has signed a new long term contract is extremely vital to the future success of Arsenal F.C.

As Arsenal struggled to assert their passing game, Wigan continually looked threatening on the counter attack. Ronnie Stam and Jean Beausejour in particular, were afforded time and space on far too many occasions as they looked to get in behind the Arsenal defence. Luckily for the away side, although Wigan looked dangerous throughout, they were never really able to threaten the Arsenal goal as once in position, they struggled to find the final pass. Their best chance of the whole game came in the first half, as Arouna Kone raced through from the half way line. He easily ran clear of Per Mertesacker but as he advanced on goal, the Ivorian seemed indecisive and, fortunately for Arsenal, hit his shot wide of goal.

Wigan’s decision to play a high pressing game told in the second half, as such a tactic requires a great deal of energy. In the second period, the home side began to tire and Arsenal grew more and more into the game, enjoying greater possession and were able to threaten Al Habsi’s goal. With the second half only a few minutes old, Oxlade-Chamberlain was sent free on the right hand side. The Englishman attempted to pick out Walcott in the box, but the man deployed as the lone striker for the second game running, was too slow to peel back and as such the pass was just behind him meaning Walcott could not get enough power on his shot to get the ball beyond the goalkeeper.  If he is to continue in this forward role, Walcott needs to quickly develop a striker’s uncanny ability to find space in the box.

As the game approached its 60^th minute however, the Gunners took the lead thanks to Walcott’s tenacity. He exchanged passes with Santi Cazorla on the edge of the box before bursting through in front of Beausejour. The Chilean panicked and bundled Walcott over, leaving the referee with no option but to award a penalty. Mikel Arteta duly stepped up and expertly dispatched the penalty, sending Al Habsi the wrong way.

Yet the goal only served to rouse the home side and as Arsenal sat back, Wigan piled forward in search of an equaliser. The Gunners were not defending particularly well and were fortunate that Wigan just could not find the final pass. Kone missed the best opportunity of the second half as he cut inside both Sagna and Mertesacker far too easily before firing straight at Szczesny.  As the clock ticked down, the home side continued to press forward and Arsenal struggled to get out of their own half but managed to hold on and secure all three points, escaping two penalty shouts along the way.

This was a crucial victory for the Gunners. Although it was not their best performance, they still showed great character to get their noses in front and the determination to fight for the win. It stretched their winning league run to a third successive game and enabled them to remain right in the hunt for a fourth place finish in the league. Hopefully results such as these will help to ease the feeling of doom and gloom which engulfed the club in recent weeks and allow the team to improve their performances and gain the consistency their season has so far lacked.