Wigan vs Arsenal : 0-1

Yeah, Emmanuel "the Panther"Adebayor scored his fifth goal of the season with a late winner at Wigan to lift Arsenal up to third in the Barclays Premiership. Ade struck the only goal of the game in the 88th minute to continue Wigan's misery against the top-flight's big guns. Poor Wigan have mustered a solitary point in 14 matches against last season's top five of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and the Gunners ever since their promotion.

Adebayor was roundly jeered at the final whistle, and again as he left the pitch by the Wigan fans who felt he dived in attempting to win a penalty shortly before he scored the winner.
It was rough justice on the Latics who deserved a point, and who showed a marked improvement on their last home performance when they were hammered 4-0 by Liverpool 11 days ago. Against a revamped Gunners lacking the services of the inspirational Thierry Henry, they more than held their own.

We left three main playmakers Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Alexander Hleb on the bench following the exertions of Sunday's 1-1 draw at Chelsea. Freddie, Julio 'the Beast' Baptista and the lightning-quick Theo Walcott all started, the latter duo starting only their second and third games in the Premiership respectively.

We were certainly quick out of the blocks, but the fact goalkeepers Jens Lehmann and Chris Kirkland were relegated to the role of spectators in the opening period spoke volumes of the action or the lack of it.....

There was a shot from Mathieu Flamini in the third minute that was sliced over the bar, and a curled effort from Adebayor in the 28th that finished considerably wide.
Josip Skoko also produced a remarkable diving header from inside the six-yard box in clearing Flamini's right-wing cross.

Although picking up four points on their travels at West Ham and Middlesbrough since the Liverpool debacle, the memories of that game were undeniably still fresh for the Latics players.
They were in no mood to be so generous, yet while tightening up at the back, they struggled themselves in attack.

There was also one skilful effort from Henri Camara, who skipped past two challenges before driving a 25-yard shot wide, that at least raised cheers from the home crowd.
The game was in desperate need of a lift and mercifully it arrived after the break as the tempo was raised, and so the chances came.

Two minutes after the restart Camara sent Emile Heskey through, but in attempting to lift a shot over the advancing Lehmann, he slipped, sliced his opportunity, allowing the German to claim.

Within a minute Arsenal countered, with Adebayor playing Baptista in behind the Wigan defence for a crisp first-time drive which Kirkland parried for the first save of the match.
He followed that up seven minutes later by racing off his line to bravely block at the feet of Adebayor after captain Gilberto had split the Latics defence with an incisive pass.
When Wigan were cut open again minutes later, with Gilberto sending Walcott sprinting clear down the right, the opener looked on the cards.
Racing into the area, the teenager unselfishly opted to square to Adebayor, but the pass had too much pace on it for the lone striker who was also put off his stride by Emmerson Boyce.
A dipping volley from Skoko that stung the fingers of Lehmann briefly interrupted Arsenal's dominance.
After Fabregas and Van Persie came on in the 75th minute, Lehmann again denied Skoko from 20 yards, with Kolo Toure following up to block Camara's attempt on the rebound.
After opportunities for Ljungberg and Camara, and then Adebayor's theatrics, it was the latter who had the last word.
Fabregas' ball over the top was inch-perfect for Adebayor who toe-poked a low shot underneath the advancing Kirkland, much to the delight of Gunners fans and disgust of Wigan supporters.

Kolo Toure admitted the Gunners were lucky to edge out Wigan tonight. Toure told Sky Sports: 'It was really difficult for us. Wigan are a really good team, really strong and make the job really hard. 'Adebayor scored a fantastic goal, I am really happy, we needed it.
'I think they played very well and we are lucky they didn't score but we had some chances. We were lucky at the end we made the difference.
'We showed great character and it is really good to give us confidence for the rest of the season.'

Wenger felt his side had needed to be `strong' to secure a win that lifted them back into third in the table. 'It was a difficult game, Wigan were up for it. It could have gone for them but it went for us. 'We created chances but they had one or two and we needed to be strong to claim the three points. 'Sometimes when you play every three days you have problems getting into the game but it gets better.'

Wenger felt there was nothing wrong with Cesc Fabregas' tackle on Henri Camara that preceded Adebayor's goal.
'From outside it looked like Cesc got the ball,' he said.
Arsenal were without talisman Thierry Henry for the match and Wenger added: 'We hope when he comes back we will be even stronger. (William) Gallas and (Tomas) Rosicky are also out but the team has a fantastic spirit and we will fight.'
Wigan manager Paul Jewell admitted his team would have been happy with a stalemate against their illustrious visitors - and was frustrated at the eventual outcome.
'I thought we were terrific. They had a few chances in the second half - but I thought we played really well,' he told Sky Sports.
'People will say it was a great pass for the goal. But we just lost our concentration, switched off for a second.
'We paid the ultimate price, losing the game - which I didn't think we deserved.'