Although Robin van Persie's first hat-trick eventually saw the Gunners move up above Manchester City, who lost at Aston Villa, into second place, for a while it seemed as if it would be another afternoon of frustration.

"The game was greater than the score indicates, and I am very pleased with the team's performance," said the Arsenal manager, whose side take on Ipswich in the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final at Emirates Stadium next week needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit.

"We look really up for it and are calm when it is needed. We have matured, know when to put the pace high up and when to calm the game down. We won 3-0, missed a penalty and their goalkeeper was still man of the match."

Wenger added on BBC Sport: "We have some players who look sharp because they have missed some games, and Robin is one of them.

"Robin is a good finisher and Fabregas gave him some great balls as well - I loved the second goal, it was a fantastic pass and a fantastic finish."

Latics' on-loan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi made a string of fine saves before he was eventually beaten by Van Persie's fierce angled drive.

The visitors continued to stave off wave of Arsenal attacks, before regrouping after the break following a double substitution and tactical change.

However, Wenger's men finally got the cushion of a second goal just before the hour when Van Persie volleyed home a perfectly-weighted chip from captain Cesc Fabregas.

It should have been three when Wigan skipper Gary Caldwell had been shown a red card for pulling back Fabregas and Van Persie stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but he blasted the spot-kick high into the stands before then curling a 20-yard effort against the post.

Nevertheless, the Holland striker would go on to claim the matchball after netting again with five minutes left after Theo Walcott had done well to hold the ball up down the left channel.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez was left less than impressed by both the manner of his team's start yesterday and the decision by referee Kevin Friend to award a "soft" penalty.

He said: "When you see it again on a replay it is easy to see if there was enough contact for a penalty.

"In normal speed, maybe the angle was different, but it is hard to take a red card.

"However, we created our own problems."

Martinez added: "In the first half, we were second best and could not get the tempo of the game and gave Arsenal too much respect.

"Our concentration levels were not what they should be.

"In the second half we were completely different, we played with great bravery and gave Arsenal some problems, stopped them from playing until the sending-off."

Wigan remain in the bottom three, but still very much within striking distance of safety as the battle for survival looks set to go to the wire.

"Now we need to take our lessons into the next 15 games and understand in any game if you want to get a result you have to start brighter," Martinez said.

"We are close to going into a very good run and that is something we will work on quickly to be ready for Aston Villa on Tuesday."