Arsenal beat Wigan as Man Utd lose

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Late goals from William Gallas and Tomas Rosicky gave Premier League leaders Arsenal a 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic on Saturday as champions Manchester United slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers.

Steven Gerrard inspired fifth-placed Liverpool to a 3-0 victory at Newcastle United while Manchester City's remarkable home record was maintained when they struck late to beat Reading 2-1 and move just one point behind United in third spot.

Chelsea stayed fourth after a 2-0 victory at bottom club Derby County. Salomon Kalou and Shaun Wright-Phillips were both on target for Chelsea who had Michael Essien sent off late on for striking Kenny Miller in the face.

Portsmouth's fine campaign shows no sign of petering out after they beat manager-less Birmingham City 2-0, their fifth away victory of the season to stay sixth.

Everton enjoyed their biggest league win for 11 years, thrashing Sunderland 7-1 at Goodison Park to leave Roy Keane's side in the bottom three. Middlesbrough are hovering just above the drop zone after a 3-0 home defeat by Aston Villa.

Second-bottom Wigan held on doggedly for 83 minutes at a subdued Emirates Stadium before Gallas headed in a Bacary Sagna cross, then Rosicky added a little gloss after being set up by substitute Nicklas Bendtner.

A mostly frustrating afternoon for Arsenal was marred by an injury to Theo Walcott in a tackle by Emile Heskey, though manager Arsene Wenger told reporters later: "He has had an x-ray and does not look too bad."

Wenger added: "Wigan produced that extra 10 percent that teams do when there is a new manager. Their defence was absolutely amazing... We kept our patience and once again we found the resources in the final 15 minutes."