Arsenal heads into their mini Christmas break in a four-way tie for fourth place with the likes of Everton, Tottenham, and West Brom, who are all level on 30 points and two behind third-place Chelsea. Arsenal has eight wins, six draws and four losses and has now picked up all nine points in their past three matches. Their superior goal difference of 14 is what sees them in fourth. The team is now off until the weekend due to their scheduled Boxing Day game against West Ham at the Emirates being postponed due to a London underground strike. That break might be bad timing since their momentum is high right now.
The Gunners picked up their third straight league win on Saturday against a mediocre Wigan side which won’t get any better until it severs its ties with manager Roberto Martinez. Their 1-0 win at DW Stadium came courtesy of a Mikel Arteta penalty after Theo Walcott was pulled down in the 18-yard box. It certainly wasn’t a masterpiece, but the three points were deserved and welcomed by manager Arsene Wenger and the squad.
Walcott was used up front in the middle again at the expense of French international Olivier Giroud, but he still hasn’t signed a contract extension. Perhaps he figures the longer he goes unsigned Wenger will keep playing him at his preferred position. Wigan had the best chance to open the scoring during the pouring rain when Arouna Kone broke in alone on goal down the left side, but his weak shot rolled a few yards wide of keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The match was basically uneventful until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain set up Walcott in the box, but his one-timer was saved by Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi. Soon after that Walcott was blocked in the penalty area by Jean Beausejour and Arteta blasted the penalty home to give the Gunners the lead in the 60th minute. Wigan’s David Jones came close to evening the score after that, but his hard drive went agonizingly wide.
Wenger then made his usual defensive-minded substitutions by taking off Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski for Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin in the 75th and 79th minutes. The manager also took off Santi Cazorla in the 92nd minute for Laurent Koscielny. This wasn’t a good move though. When you’re hanging onto a one-goal lead in stoppage time you want those extra seconds to fly by as quickly as possible. The last thing you want to do is extend stoppage time by making a needless substitution and give your opposition an extra 30 seconds to level the score.
Wigan’s best chances came after Jordi Gomez was brought on for Shaun Maloney in the 89th minute. However, the move by Martinez didn’t pay off, but it did show just how poor of a manager he really is. Bringing on Gomez to change the game with just two minutes to go left Wigan supporters scratching their heads when he could have been brought on much earlier. It’s no wonder they’re in the relegation zone for most of the season year after year. All Martinez could do after the game was moan about the penalty call instead of own up to his own shortcomings.
Arsenal’s next game will now be Sat. Dec. 29 at home against another struggling side in Newcastle and three days later head south to take on yet another one in Southampton. They really need to turn their three-game winning streak into a five-match run with these opponents coming up.
Arsenal player ratings Dec. 22 vs Wigan
Wojciech Szczesny 7
Was there for the team when needed in tough playing conditions. Steady and sure of himself.
Bacary Sagna 7
Another good outing for the experienced right back. It will be hard to replace him if he leaves.
Per Mertesacker 6.5
He played his usual game, which was steady enough with a couple of rocky moments.
Thomas Vermaelen 6.5
Vermaelen also played well enough to keep Wigan at bay for most of the match.
Kieran Gibbs 7
Gibbs has a lot of potential and he’s going to be a fixture at left back for a long time if he keeps it up.
Mikel Arteta 8
Another good game by the Spaniard. Took the penalty well too.
Jack Wilshere 7
It wasn’t his typical dominating performance and he picked up a debatable yellow card. Overall though, nothing to complain about.
Santi Cazorla 6.5
He was resourceful and dependable, but not spectacular. Was taken off after 92 minutes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 7.5
One of Chamberlain’s better games this season. He has the talent to be a game changer, but not much luck around the goal. Was taken off after 75 minutes.
Theo Walcott 7
Walcott was left up on his own quite a bit and the service was lacking somewhat. His best chance was set up by Chamberlain, but his quick shot was saved. Got into the box and drew the penalty call.
Lukas Podolski 6
Podolski wasn’t too visible, but did what he had to. Was taken off after 79 minutes.
Substitutes
Aaron Ramsey 6
Came on in the 75th minute for Oxlade-Chamberlain and did his job. Nothing more and nothing less.
Francis Coquelin 6.5
Came on in the 79th minute for Podolski. He was energetic and dependable.
Laurent Koscielny NA
Came on in the 92nd minute for Cazorla.
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