Wigan Athletic - 2 Arsenal - 3: In brilliant winter sunshine a shadow of doubt passed across this corner of northern England on Saturday. Arsenal edged themselves out of it and, in doing so, nudged Wigan Athletic into it. But this can be a temporary station.

After six consecutive Premiership wins, the told-you-so merchants were waiting for Wigan to encounter Arsenal. They did so in the knowledge that Tottenham Hotspur, then Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United follow. Wigan, so their theory goes, are about to tumble like a stock exchange.

Arsenal, meanwhile, having not won away from home in the league since May 2nd, and having lost at Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion on their travels already this season, are to be viewed as on the mend.

It is, however, not quite as simple as that. It could not be, after such a high-octane game in which the difference between the sides, ultimately, was the ability of Arsenal's Thierry Henry and the inability of Wigan's goalkeeper John Filan.

But for Filan, Robin van Persie would not have been allowed to score the 11th minute opener that sucked so much of the initial energy from the hosts; but for Henry, Arsenal would not have made it 3-1 on 41 minutes with a free-kick exceptional by any standards.

In terms of Arsenal's victory, these were the decisive moments.

In a five-goal first half, Henry had made it 2-0 after 21 minutes. At that point Wigan looked to be worryingly close to a hiding.

Yet they should have scored first after just five minutes when Lee McCulloch failed to control an inviting volley and Wigan maintained their focus admirably even when, gasping for breath, they watched as Henry guided in his first and Arsenal's second. "At 2-0 people will have been thinking 'Here we go'," said the Wigan captain Arjan de Zeeuw.

But Wigan persevered, demonstrating one of their best qualities. Arsene Wenger identified others: "They have a unity, a way of thinking about the game, a determined attitude and belief. There is no doubt in their team."

That represents a value system implanted by Paul Jewell. Unregarded at times, Jewell pointed out quietly that four years ago last week Wigan lost at home to Canvey Island in an FA Cup-tie.

It was watched by a "crowd" of 3,671. Down at Higbury, Arsenal were about to defeat Manchester United 3-1 on the way to the Double.

Wigan have come a long way fast but that will not satisfy a character like Jewell. He is well aware that plenty are waiting for Wigan to fall and it will be one of his principal tasks before Spurs arrive on Saturday to ensure that doubt does not infiltrate his camp.

"The day you're satisfied is the day you stand still," Jewell said. "We know we've made massive progress but we're not happy. I said to my players, don't enjoy glorious defeat, don't bask in the glory of getting beaten (like that), but take credit out of it. Be winners and sustain what you're doing on the pitch, or, more than that, be even better."

Jewell is rammed with this sort of common sense. It brought De Zeeuw back to the club this summer and he rose to nod down a free-kick from which Henri Camara nipped in between two Arsenal defenders to supply a fox-in-the-box header to make it 2-1.

Shortly after Henry had made it 3-1 Jimmy Bullard - £275,000 from Peterborough - shimmied away from Sol Campbell and pinged in Wigan's second.

Wigan were showing guile as well as endeavour and though they could not come back to equalise in the second half, one narrow defeat against Arsenal should not invite the bubble-burst comments that Jewell knows will come anyway.

Similarly, Arsenal will be the subject of turned-corner assessments. Their next away game is at Bolton so Wenger will know then just how far the "developing confidence" has taken the Gunners. Asked if Arsenal were eradicating some of the doubt surrounding them away from home, Wenger replied: "I feel slowly that we are. We had Thierry Henry out, and you can see the difference he makes."

Not for the first time, Henry was the difference between his side winning and losing. As long as that remains the case, a shadow will hover close over Arsenal.

Guardian Service