London, England – Wigan netted two early goals and held on for a 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Monday, moving the club five points clear of the drop zone.
The Latics have won four of their last five games including a victory over Manchester United last week, which was followed by another stunning win over the Gunners, who had won nine of their previous 10 games.
An Arsenal corner kick led to a swift Wigan counter attack in the seventh minute that saw Jordi Gomez sprint down the left wing and roll the ball into the path of an unmarked Franco Di Santo, who chipped the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and knocked it into the empty net.
It was Wigan's first chance of the match and the visitors needed just one minute to double the lead as a low cross from Victor Moses was not properly dealt with by the Arsenal defense, leaving Gomez to bundle the ball over the goal line from a few yards.
Arsenal recovered to pull to within a goal in the 21st minute when Tomas Rosicky's right-wing cross was turned past goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi by the head of Thomas Vermaelen.
It looked like Arsenal was poised for another rally but early in the second half Andre Santos missed the net from six yards for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger's side was never able to hit the next gear.
The defeat leaves Arsenal five points clear of both Tottenham and Newcastle, who now have a game in hand.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.