Arsene Wenger was sorry to see Wigan get relegated from the English Premier League, after Arsenal picked up a 4-1 win over the F.A. Cup winners in a thrilling game at the Emirates Tuesday.
Arsenal went into the game knowing nothing but three points will do to keep their top-four hopes in their hands, while Wigan needed all three points to stay afloat going into the final game at the weekend.
Lukas Podolski opened the scoring for Arsenal, before Shaun Maloney equalized right on halftime.
However, Wigan could not complete a famous comeback as Arsenal scored three quickfire goals - courtesy Theo Walcott, Podolski and Aaron Ramsey -- in the second half to put the tie to bed.
Arsene Wenger admitted he was sad to see Wigan's eight-year stay in the Premier League come to an end.
"It is sad that they go down because they are a good team, they play good football and are an intelligent team with good players," the Arsenal manager said.
"Wigan are a good footballing side, and it is difficult to understand, but that is the harsh truth of the game.
"If they stay together they will certainly come up again."
Arsenal started the game brightly, and were duly rewarded with Podolski's goal, but a soft freekick allowed Wigan back into the game, with the away side looking more likely to make it 2-1 at the start of the second half before the three-goal blitz turned things around for the home team.
"We had a quick start and a strong start for the first 20 minutes," Wenger said. "We were really dominating and after that we became a bit conservative and pushed forward less and allowed Wigan back in the game.
"We were unfortunate to go to 1-1 because I think it was a freekick for us. It was a big blow for our team and you could see that when we came out in the second half -- we were not as fluent or as confident as we wanted to be.
"Wojciech (Szczesny) made a great save at 1-1. At that stage we were on the brink of conceding a goal."
Arsenal, who moved a point clear of Tottenham with the win and to within two points of third-placed Chelsea, travel to Newcastle to play their final game of the season, and Wenger is confident of getting a positive result to seal a place in next season's Champions League.
"I am confident because we have experience, we play for a long time under massive pressure and we have always found the solutions with the problems that we have faced," Wenger added.
"It is all open, but it depends on our result. Even third place is not out of sight of we win the game."
