Arsenal vs Wigan Athletic - Emirates Stadium, London - Saturday 6th December 2008

Straight off the plane from Philadelphia, I went to this game, hoping that Arsenal could win 2 League games in a row for the first time in a while. Having beaten Chelsea away the previous week, we were all aware that it would have all been in vain if we couldn't do the same against Wigan. Despite a disappointing defeat for the kids against Burnley in the week, we had Adebayor and Van Persie back up front for this one, as well as the excellent looking Djourou in defence again, and Kolo Toure back to partner him.

Things in the game started off OK, then got a bit more frustrating, before eventually turning weird. The first half hour saw Almunia with little to do in goal; Arsenal having the majority of possession; and creating a few decent half chances. After about 25 minutes, a ball seemed to deflect off Alex Song into the path of Adebayor, who pounced to sweep the ball past Kirkland for the goal that won the game. A good reaction from Adebayor, who managed to remain onside, and was in the right place at the right time.

The second half contained the frustrating and weird parts of the game. Arsenal created and squandered a host of chances - hitting the post more than once, and having at least 3 other chances where you just couldn't believe how they didn't go in. This happened across the first 30 minutes of the second half. Then, with 15 minutes to go, Arsenal seemed to crap themselves - as if they feared that they wouldn't score a second, but might concede a goal. They retreated to defending, and in the process, handed the initiative to Wigan. Wigan responded, came back into the game a little more, and an Almunia save from Melchiot was needed to keep us in the game.

The scapegoat for all of this was Emmanuel Eboue, who came on to replace Nasri on the left wing after half an hour. He had been injured for 6 weeks, and was playing in a totally unfamiliar position, so his poor game was understandable. What wasn't acceptable was the extent to which the Arsenal fans got on his back. He isn't the greatest player in the world, but booing your own players is inexcusable. Arsene Wenger admitted that he was becoming a liability, in no small part because the fans were on his back so much - which ultimately led to his substitution, and the cheers and boos as he went off. I have no idea who these Arsenal fans are, but there were a hell of a lot - too many - of them. Alan Hansen thought so too it seems, Arsenal fans have something of a poor reputation right now - and rightly so on this showing. No matter what the frustrations this season, booing does not help, and "fans" should not be doing it.