Wigan demolish Magpies; Arsenal draw with Stoke

SaturdayEverton 4 - 0 FulhamStoke City 1 - 1 ArsenalSunderland 2 - 2 Bolton Swansea City 4 - 4 WolvesWest Brom 0 - 0 Aston VillaWigan 4 - 0 Newcastle LONDON Wigan produced an inspired performance to stun Newcastle, as Arsenal drew with Stoke to inch a step closer to sealing third place in the Premier League.Aston Villa and Bolton remain in trouble after being held to draws, while there was an extraordinary eight-goal thriller at the Liberty Stadium and Everton thrashed Fulham.Newcastle’s hopes of finishing in the top three were dealt a major blow as Wigan provided another demonstration of their Premier League credentials with an incredible 4-0 home win that significantly boosts their survival chances.Newcastle may have won six in a row ahead of kick-off but Wigan have shown in recent weeks they can be dangerous opponents and were quickly into their stride at the DW Stadium as Victor Moses broke the deadlock with a header in the 13th minute.The impressive Moses fired in a second for the Latics moments later after poor defending from Newcastle, and Shaun Maloney was sent racing through on goal to make it 3-0 on 36 minutes.Franco Di Santo curled home a sublime effort on the stroke of half-time to leave the Magpies with a mountain to climb, and it proved an insurmountable task as Wigan cruised through the remaining 45 minutes to pull three points clear of the drop zone.Arsenal could not take full advantage of Newcastle’s slip-up but still strengthened their position with a 1-1 draw against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.There is no loss between these two sides following previous accusations from Arsene Wenger that Stoke are too physical in their approach, and the opening goal of the game came from a direct route as Peter Crouch won an aerial battle to head Matthew Etherington’s cross cleverly past Wojciech Szczesny.Arsenal were soon back on level terms, though, with newly-crowned PFA Player of the Year Robin van Persie poking home a Tomas Rosicky cross for his 28th Premier League goal of the season.Both sides pushed for a winner in the second half but there were no further goals and the Gunners had to settle for a hard-earned point that keeps their top-three challenge on track.