Robin van Persie's 14th goal of the campaign rounded off Arsenal's convincing 4-0 victory over Wigan on Saturday that lifted the rejuvenated London club to fifth place in the English Premier League.
The in-form Netherlands striker took his tally in all competitions this season to 17 in 19 games with a neat finish to Theo Walcott's cross in the 78th minute.
Mikel Arteta, defender Thomas Vermaelen - with his third goal in his last four league matches - and Gervinho also scored for Arsenal, which hasn't lost in two months but remains 12 points behind league leader Manchester City.
''Overall we had a good team performance defensively and offensively,'' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. ''The confidence is there and you could feel that in the way we played today.
''I can only congratulate the team. They are growing and getting better and better.''
The defeat dropped Wigan to bottom place in the standings, on goal difference from Bolton, just when it was hoped last weekend's morale-boosting 2-1 win at Sunderland would be the catalyst to recovery.
Wigan's deep defending invited trouble, although it was the poor handling of goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi that set Arsenal on its way.
Arteta's shot from 25 yards in the 28th shouldn't have troubled the Oman international but it squirmed through his hands and into the net.
Van Persie, who has scored more goals this season than Wigan's entire squad, sent in a corner to the back post where Vermaelen nodded in a minute later and Arsenal didn't look back.
''The two goals are really soft and they are really close to each other, and I felt that affected us too much,'' Wigan manager Roberto Martinez said. ''That's probably the real disappointment.''
The result was put beyond any doubt in the 61st minute when Van Persie worked some space in the box and, although his shot was parried by Al Habsi, it fell perfectly for Gervinho to slot home.
Van Persie inevitably grabbed his customary goal to add further gloss to the scoreline.
