Arsenal v Wigan Athletic - Player Ratings

Last updated : 10 December 2008 By Luis Anaconda

We allowed Wigan far too much possession but denied them the chances - they just pumped the ball into the box and for once we dealt with it superbly on the whole. For all the claims that they might have deserved a draw, Ade and Denilson's shots that came back off the inside of the post tell a different story

Manuel Almunia - 7 - Critical saves in both halves.

Bacary Sagna - 7 - Showed his ability in the air winning vital headers at the far post on several occasions and was unlucky at the other end.

Kolo Toure - 7 - Looked more like the Kolo of old - and concentrated far more on his defensive duties than on charging forward (with one unfortunate exception late on).

Johan Djourou - 7 - Classy and here to stay.

Gael Clichy - 7 - Back to form - still a few glitches to iron out though.

Denilson - 6 - Filling in fine on the flanks but we are missing true width.

Alexandre Song - 8 - Won everything in the air and became increasingly influential as the match wore on. Like Djourou, this is his chance to cement a first-team place.

Cesc Fabregas - 6 - Still below par but proving to be a lucky captain.

Samir Nasri - 6 - Looking good until kicked out of the match.

Robin van Persie - 7 - His link-up play with Adebayor is showing a huge improvement on earlier in the season. They look a real handful now - even if both should have added to the tally.

Emmanuel Adebayor - 7 - A matchwinner again.

Substitutes:

Emmanuel Eboue - 5 - Didn't have a great game, didn't kill anybody either.

Mikael Silvestre - n/a