[PLAYER RATINGS] Wigan 0-4 Arsenal: How The Gunners Got On….

Arsenal produced a superb all round performance to beat Wigan 4-0 at the DW Stadium. With the exception of the first ten minutes, when the home side looked dangerous and could have taken the lead, the Gunners were by far the better side and picked Wigan off with ease.

The defence was solid and Santos and Koscielny are looking good in the full back positions. I was worried when Sagna was ruled out for such a long period, and even more worried when Wenger started playing Djourou there, but Kosielny looks at home on the right. Santos is certainly improving, and it’s clear Wenger has had a word with him about his caviller attitude as he’s been far more reserved in the last couple of games. Vermaelen took his goal well, and we certainly missed his attacking threat when he was out.

The midfield trio of Song, Ramsey and Arteta completed ran the midfield. They passed their way threw the Wigan players with ease and Arteta scored a great goal. Gervinho was the more dangerous of the two wide men, getting on the score-sheet as well which was nice to see as he needed a goal. And Van Persie capped off another great display with another goal, and yet another goal provided by Theo Walcott. Those two play very well together.

Unfortunately, all of our rivals also picked up three points so we didn’t make any ground on the teams above, well apart from Liverpool who don’t play until Monday. But Wigan away has been a bit of a bogey fixture for us in recent seasons so to secure such a comprehensive result was superb from the boys. There was no real stand-out individual performance so a MOTM was pretty difficult to pick, but i gave it to Arteta for his superb all-round display. Here are my ratings:

Player Ratings:

Szczesny – 6 – Very little to do throughout the game. Did well when, on the rare occasion, he was called upon.

Santos – 6.5 – Decent game from the Brazilian. He bombed forward when required but not as much as in previous outings.

Mertesacker – 6.5 – Dealt well with everything Wigan had to offer, which wasn’t a lot. Looking more and more comfortable as the games go by.

Vermaelen – 7.5 – Great goal and another assured display at the back. Has scored more goals that Torres and Carroll this season, in less appearances. Legend.

Koscielny – 7 – Put in a few terrific crosses and looks very comfortable at right back.

Song – 7 – Good game from Song, kept things moving well. Seemed to be hobbling so was subbed late on.

Ramsey – 7 – Another tireless display from Rambo. Along with Song and Arteta, they ran the midfield with ease.

Arteta – 8 – Nice to see him having a long range shot, which flew past Al Habsi, although the keeper should have done better. Great all round display.

Gervinho – 7.5 – Very good performance. Powerful, direct running at the Wigan defence, and capped it off with a goal. Still a little wasteful at times but he’s a threat. Subbed.

Walcott – 7 – Once again set up Van Persie with an assist. Wasn’t totally in the game, but his runs and pace were a constant threat. Subbed.

Van Persie – 7.5 – Another fine performance form the Dutchman. Missed a couple of chances but got his customary goal near the end. All round play was very good as well.

SUBS:

Arshavin – n/a – Only on for 10 minutes and didn’t see him involved really.

Benayoun – 6.5 – Made a nice run to get in behind the Wigan defence, and perhaps could have done better to score, but always looked assured on the ball.

Coquelin – 5 – Only contribution was getting booked for a reckless tackle.

What would your ratings be?