It was not the disaster of last season, when Arsenal collapsed from 2-0 up to lose 3-2, but manager Arsene Wenger - who had gambled on eight changes from the side which beat Chelsea - will feel easy points were dropped in the tightest of title races.
The Gunners led 2-1, with Charles N'Zogbia having been sent off for Wigan, only for the home side to level thanks to an own goal from Sebastian Squillaci.
Ben Watson's penalty had given the home side a deserved lead, but Arsenal replied to take the lead at the break through Andrei Arshavin's brilliant scissor-kick and Nicklas Bendtner's calm finish.
Perhaps Wenger's changes heartened Wigan because they started off in spirited fashion and had the Gunners rocking on their heels.
Much of Arsenal's early struggles were self-inflicted. Squillaci gave up a contest with Hugo Rodallega claiming he had been fouled and fellow centre-back Laurent Koscielny had to rescue him with a perfectly-timed challenge in the box.
Then Bendtner's appallingly loose pass was seized upon by N'Zogbia, who rattled in a low shot which was comfortable for Lukasz Fabianksi.
Tomas Rosicky, Arsenal's captain on the night, finally managed to bring some composure to the visitors and his vision set Arshavin free only for the Russian to fire over the bar.
Bendtner earned a free-kick on the edge of the Wigan box and took it himself, only to see it deflected off the wall and past the post with Ali Al Habsi flatfooted.
In the 17th minute Wigan broke swiftly and N'Zogbia burst down the right before tumbled over Koscielny's trailing leg just on the edge of the box.
A penalty looked the right decision and Watson hammered it home to give the home side a deserved lead.
Arsenal were a whisker away from an equaliser when Rosicky's shot was parried by Al Habsi and Koscielny looked favourite to slot home, only for Gary Caldwell to dive in bravely to thwart the Frenchman.
Before the half-hour was out, Wenger was forced to make a change with Jack Wilshere coming on for Abou Diaby, who had picked up an injury, and his arrival seemed to settle Arsenal down.
Arshavin had been at his frustrating worst for most of the half but it was down to his brilliant volley that Arsenal equalised six minutes before the break.
Marouane Chamakh had lobbed the ball on for Bendtner to hit a shot on the bounce and when Al Habsi managed to keep it out, it dropped for Arshavin to strike a lovely scissor-kick back past the Wigan goalkeeper.
The goal seemed to breathe life into Arsenal and particularly Arshavin, who created a goal for Bendtner in the 43rd minute.
Arshavin tussled for and won possession in the centre circle, then bustled forward and found Bendtner, who used his strength to brush off a couple of weak challenges and then make no mistake from 12 yards out.
Wilshere's anchoring abilities made Arsenal appear more resilient generally and Antolin Alcaraz breathed a sigh of relief after heading just wide of his own net.
From the resulting corner an unmarked Chamakh sent his header into almost exactly the same spot when he should really have hit the target.
Although Arsenal's grip on the game had tightened, Wigan still looked capable of causing problems and Tom Cleverley was not a million miles away from finding the top corner after the usually-dependable Bacary Sagna had slipped.
The Gunners' passing game had been slowly reasserting itself and it clicked into gear perfectly in the 70th minute with a mouthwatering move that simply begged to be finished off, but Al Habsi stood tall to deny Arshavin.
N'Zogbia had looked Wigan's most potent threat all night and with 15 minutes left Arsenal were grateful to Fabianski for a one-on-one save.
Having played so well, N'Zogbia then got himself sent off for pushing his head into Wilshere's face after an exchange of words, leaving referee Lee Probert little option but to show red.
Far from being disheartened, the dismissal fired up the home side and with 10 minutes left they equalised.
Rodallega headed back a corner at the far post and Squillaci, trying to thwart Caldwell, could only head into his own net.
Wenger had to go for broke and did, bringing on Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri.
There was one escape for Wigan when James McArthur deflected Nasri's free-kick with his hands, and once more the Gunners left the DW Stadium frustrated.
Arsene Wenger insisted his decision to make eight changes was not a gamble that backfired despite Arsenal letting 10-man Wigan off the hook.
The Arsenal manager said: "I had to change the team - with all these matches we cannot play always with the same team - but I don't think that was a problem at all.
"We had a disadvantage that Manchester United has not got - Wigan played three days ago and we played 48 hours ago, a big game in the evening."
"It is a point and we will see at the end of the season how important it is - last night Man U played 1-1 at Birmingham and we played 2-2 today."
"I don't think it's a shame - overall the draw was all right. Wigan had chances as well.''
Ben Watson's penalty had given the home side a deserved lead but Arsenal replied to go in ahead at the break through Andrei Arshavin's brilliant scissor-kick and Nicklas Bendtner's calm finish.
Wenger admitted Squillaci's own goal was disappointing - but not as bad as last season when the Gunners threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.
He added: "It was disappointing because we were 2-1 up, playing against 10 men and dropped two points. But overall it was a difficult game, very physical, with a high level of commitment from Wigan and they caught us a bit at the start.
"You always felt any mistake at the back and we could pay for it as long as we didn't score the third goal.''
Wilshere had come on in the 27th minute for Abou Diaby, who suffered a calf injury that will keep him out for several weeks, and the England midfielder was then substituted himself shortly after N'Zogbia's red card.
Wenger added: "I felt he was a bit becoming controversial he wanted to force decisions and he looked a bit tired because he played the whole game against Chelsea and I didn't want to expose him.''
Arsenal claimed they should have had a late penalty when Tom Cleverley appeared to block Samir Nasri's free-kick with his hands.
"I personally did not see it,'' said Wenger. "Nasri is adamant it was a 100% penalty.''
Cesc Fabregas criticised referees for inconsistency, claiming the shout was identical to the offence he was penalised for against Tottenham.
Fabregas said on his Twitter account: "What's the difference between this handball and my one versus Spurs? Referees don't want us to complain about them but they make life difficult for themselves. I'm not complaining at all, I'm just saying why on the same thing some refs say it's a penalty and some not. Is it a rule or just what they feel?''
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez declared himself "extremely pleased'' with the result but criticised N'Zogbia for his red card, though claimed the French winger had come in for rough treatment.
Martinez said: "There's no excuses - that's unacceptable, it's a bad reaction. Charles started the game very well, he won a penalty, he gets kicked in every game and there's a lot of emotions but you cannot accept that sort of reaction."
"He let his team down - football is team game and the reaction of the players got Charles out of jail in that respect. We'll deal with it internally but it's something I don't like."
"Sometimes in football you need to react in the right manner even if you are getting kicked all over the place.
"From the first minute Charles got a rough treatment and you want to protect the skilful players and that protection should come from other areas not from himself.''
Martinez insisted Wenger's decision to make so many changes had not aided Wigan.
He said: "Not at all - looking at them they are all full internationals with really good experience. I would have preferred to play against the team that played against Chelsea and it would have been practically impossible for them to have recovered.''
Source: ESPN Soccernet on 29 Dec 10
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