Vermaelen 25, 49

Eduardo 59

Fabregas 90

Arsenal strolled to victory against Wigan, who had failed to win any of their previous 33 encounters against the EPL’s ‘top-four’ and never looked likely to win number 34.

Arsenal’s strikers failed to score. But when your Belgian centre-half can curl one in from 20 yards, who needs strikers?

Robin Van Persie should have opened Arsenal’s account in the 20th minute but failed to get a telling touch on Emmanuel Eboue’s pass.

Instead he turned provider five minutes later when his right-wing corner was headed powerfully home by the aforementioned Belgian, Thomas Vermaelen.

Emmerson Boyce stung the hands of young Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone after a rare Wigan foray forward.

But the second goal was on the cards and came only four minutes after the break.

Vermaelen played a neat one-two with Eboue before curling the ball round unsighted Latics keeper Chris Kirkland.

Ten minutes later, it was three-nil. Eduardo crashed a shot against the post and fired the rebound goalward.

The ball took an inadvertent touch off Eboue before finding the net and the midfielder rightly claimed the goal. Not only because his overall performance merited a goal but also because Kirkland probably had Eduardo’s shot covered.

Alexander Song struck a post as Arsenal continued to dominate, the one-way traffic only calming to allow Jason Scotland to force another save from Mannone.

Paul Scharner scored from the rebound but was offside as soon as he chased in the original shot.

Arsene Wenger’s men rounded matters off in style on 90 minutes when Cesc Fabregas delicately nutmegged Kirkland from a near-post cross by Nicklas Bendtner.

This left Wenger purring after the match about Arsenal being “faithful to the game we want to play right to the end.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, could only bemoan that his team “couldn’t be ourselves against such fantastic players.”