Gunners leave it late

For large spells, though, the Gunners - now unbeaten for 28 consecutive matches - had been frustrated by a determined Wigan side, who will have new manager Steve Bruce in charge from Monday.

Eventually, though, Arsenal made the breakthrough when, with just seven minutes left, captain William Gallas headed in at the near post, before Czech winger Tomas Rosicky made sure of the result with a well-taken goal two minutes later, which capitalised on Manchester United's defeat at Bolton.

However, victory came at a cost though as Theo Walcott was carried off on a stretcher after a hefty challenge from Wigan's England striker Emile Heskey.

It was a bright start by the home side, with Walcott involved in the early sorties deep into Wigan territory. However, in the fifth minute, the Latics - who had lost seven straight in the league - thought they had snatched a shock lead when Marcus Bent was put clear and beat Manuel Almunia only to be called back by the offside flag.

Walcott was at the centre of Arsenal's attacks - and a dash down the right to cut the ball back from the goal-line deserved better than Emmanuel Eboue to miss his kick completely inside the six-yard box at the near post. There was a warning for Arsenal, though, when Bent put a header over following a deep cross from Emerson Boyce.

Bruce, watching from the directors' box, would have been impressed with his new side's resilience and hoping for more of the same over the second 45 minutes.

Arsenal again faced a wall of blue across midfield as they looked to get their passing game going again. The home fans were starting to show their frustrations as promising attacks came to nothing with almost an hour played.

With 23 minutes left, Wigan sent on Heskey, to replace Salomon Olembe, while Arsenal also made a change as Eduardo came on for Eboue and Walcott moved out wide. Gallas and Heskey were then also both shown yellow cards following a needless altercation, before a reckless sliding challenge from the Wigan striker left Walcott in a heap on the far side and he was carried off, replaced by Nicklas Bendtner.

Arsenal finally got themselves in front with just seven minutes left. Bacary Sagna's first-time cross to the near post saw Gallas arrive ahead of marker Titus Bramble to nod the ball past Mike Pollitt. The result was assured when Rosicky was fed on the overlap by Bendtner and he made no mistake from the edge of the box, netting off the inside of the far post.