With both Chelsea and Liverpool winning, the Gunners needed all the points and in the end relief was the overwhelming emotion for the players and fans.
Wigan for their part battled well, but their attacking ambitions simply came too late to take advantage of Arsenal's inability to close out games.
The Gunners' younger Guns had comfortably disposed of Wigan in a 3-0 victory a few weeks ago and Arsene Wenger will have been hoping for more of the same. The early indications were that he would not get his way.
Wigan were battling hard and had tested Manuel Almunia on a couple of occasions early on.
A stroke of luck went Arsenal's way in the 16th minute and with it came the opening goal. Denilson fed Cesc Fabregas who lifted a ball forward towards the penalty area.
Alex Song and Titus Bramble were wresting for possession when the ball bounced forward off the Arsenal man's leg. Adebayor was quickest to react and fired the ball past an oncoming Chris Kirkland.
The hope would have been for an intense game after that goal - the Gunners in search of another, Wigan vigorously seeking an equaliser. It was not to be.
The game went flat and the only effort of note for the next 25 minutes was a wild shot by Adebayor that sailed high over the bar.
The Togolese striker then struck the post just seconds before half-time with a 30-yard shot after Kirkland got the slightest of touches to take the ball of its goalbound course.
Wigan began brightly after the whistle and Antonio Valencia should have done better in the 50th minute when Ryan Taylor's cross from the left found the head of the midfielder, but he directed the ball limply into the arms of Almunia.
Robin van Persie drove a shot just wide of Kirkland's goal a minute later and the Wigan keeper was on hand to claim Bacary Sagna's header from van Persie's corner a minute later.
The Dutchman was just inches wide after 58 minutes with a shot from the edge of the area that followed some determined work by Denilson.
Lee Catermole presented Almunia with a comfortable save just before the hour, but that was the extent of Wigan's adventure who looked keen to keep the game tight.
The Gunners hit the post for the second time, this time it was Denilson's 25-yard drive in the 66th minute that cannoned back off the right upright. A minute previous to that Van Persie saw his free-kick shave the top of the crossbar.
Almunia kept his side in the lead with a fantastic point-blank save from Mario Melchiot in the 70th minute. Adebayor should have done better when the goal opened up for him a minute later, but opted to direct a shot at the near post, which Kirkland was in position to block.
Wigan, encouraged by Arsenal's lack of a cutting edge, ventured forward with more conviction. In an effort to bolster their offensive ambitions, Steve Bruce introduced Jason Koumas with 13 minutes to play.
As the seconds ticked away, so the panic in the Arsenal ranks intensified as they realised that a goal may not be enough.
The passing was uncharacteristically sloppy and Emile Heskey was an ever-present threat in the air and notably so in the last minute of normal time, when he sent a header flashing just over Almunia's goal.
Wenger received the second loudest cheer when he substituted substitute Emmanuel Eboue who was having a nightmare of a game, giving away possession almost every time he got near the ball.
The loudest applause came when Steve Bennett blew the final whistle, to the relief of most watching on.