Vermaelen punishes poor Wigan

Arsenal 4 Wigan Athletic 0:ARSENAL SHOULD not kid themselves. While this emphatic win will have restored some self-esteem following two Premier League defeats in Manchester and a nervous Champions League victory in Liege, the poverty of the opposition meant some of the failings dogging Arsene Wenger's team did not so much disappear as become an irrelevance.

The attack was as profligate as ever, with Robin van Persie three times miscuing when he should have scored, while the defence fiddled and flapped and continued to look particularly vulnerable on crosses. In the end, however, none of this mattered since Arsenal found an alternative cure for at least one of these ills in Thomas Vermaelen.

The Belgian was signed from Ajax to stiffen the defence but he spared the Emirates a frustrating afternoon by scoring the opening two goals, the first with a sharp downward header from van Persie’s inswinging corner, the second with a clinical half-volley following an exchange of passes with Emmanuel Eboue.

“Let’s be honest for once,” said Wenger. “I thought he would adapt quickly but not as quickly as that.” Vermaelen is Arsenal’s leading scorer, a statistic they must hope will be short-lived given the number of chances the strikers are missing. Few if any of their opponents will let down their guard as regularly as Wigan did while offering a minimal attacking threat in reply.

The win did not strengthen Arsenal’s case for offering a more serious league challenge this time, it merely added one or two notes in the margins. Eduardo may yet forge a prolific partnership with van Persie but until Nicklas Bendtner came off the bench the only significant presence in front of goal was Vermaelen.

With a bit more nous and a modicum of effort Wigan might have caused Arsenal considerable embarrassment. As it was they achieved a few minutes of sustained pressure towards half-time which had Arsenal struggling to clear their lines and would have brought the scores level had Emmerson Boyce’s header not been blocked by Vito Mannone.

Otherwise Wigan were so far below par they practically became invisible. They gave away numerous free-kicks as much by blundering into opponents as deliberately fouling them.

“We were very poor,” their manager, Roberto Martinez, admitted.

“We did not get anywhere near the Arsenal players in the first half. I can’t take any positives from this performance – or the lack of it.”

One player who took more from the game was Eboue, who left the field to loud applause when he was substituted after 73 minutes. He had made a competent contribution, getting a touch to Eduardo’s shot past Chris Kirkland for the third having been booked earlier for meeting the ball with a fist rather than his head, but there was more to it than that. When Arsenal met Wigan last December the Ivory Coast player, who was badly off form, had been booed mercilessly by the crowd. On Saturday the Emirates as good as said it was sorry.

“I believe Eboue did what you have to do in our job,” said Wenger, “which is to shut up, play and let everyone else talk while he produces quality performances. This is a strong job for strong people. The supporters are behind him when he plays well and plays with the right spirit.” Eboue would appear to be more fortunate than Jon Sammels, a decent enough footballer in the 60s who could not please the Highbury crowd. Cesc Fabregas completed Arsenal’s victory by turning in Bendtner’s low cross. Wenger’s players will have to work rather harder for success at Fulham this Saturday, while Wigan can hardly be any worse at home to Chelsea. Can they?

Guardian Service