wigan arsenal
Wigan fightback stuns Arsenal and shatters lingering title chances
Three goals in an incredible 10-minute finale transformed defeat into victory for Wigan Athletic and finally killed off Arsenal’s title bid.
Arsène Wenger and his team appeared to be coasting to a routine win when they led 2-0 in the 80th minute, but then Ben Watson gave Wigan a glimmer of hope and what followed was as remarkable as anything seen all season.
Titus Bramble headed the equaliser with a minute of the 90 remaining, and with Arsenal totally deflated, Charles N’Zogbia had time to plunder the winner.
The denouement was a personal nightmare for Lukasz Fabianski who, making his first appearance of the season in the Premier League, dropped the ball on to Bramble’s head for the goal that deprived Arsenal of the lead. Until that point, they had thrust themselves back into the title race.
Wenger had given up hope of overhauling the top two after the midweek defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, but then Spurs beat Chelsea to kick the door ajar again, and goals from Theo Walcott and Mikaël Silvestre here had set the Gunners’ sights on greater glory than a place in the Champions League.
Arsenal had been further depleted by the loss of Thomas Vermaelen and Manuel Almunia, both added to the list of the walking wounded after the Tottenham game, and unlikely to play again this season.
Poor Fabianski took over in goal, with Silvestre deputising for Vermaelen. Two other changes saw the 19-year-old Craig Eastmond given only his second start in the league, in place of the injured Denilson, and Walcott promoted from the bench to the exclusion of Emmanuel Eboué. Surprisingly, in view of his impact in midweek, there was no place in the starting line-up for Robin van Persie.
As might have been expected, Arsenal were always the better, more cohesive team, but it took them longer than they would have wanted to translate superiority into advantage. The goal they needed to revive their title challenge was delayed until the 41st minute, when Nicklas Bendtner’s through pass bisected the Wigan defence, setting up Walcott, who held off Maynor Figueroa before beating the advancing Chris Kirkland and scoring, left footed, from 10 yards.
