Manchester City 0 v 1 Wigan Athletic
13th March 2007
Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell named an unchanged Latics line up for this vital 'six pointer' against relegation rivals Manchester City. He stuck with the same team that beat Newcastle United 1-0 at the JJB Stadium last weekend and that meant that Caleb Folan was preferred up front to Julius Aghahowa again.
City, who had prepared for this clash with a trip to Dubai during the week must have wished they'd stayed there as Folan, the player who scored for Chesterfield against City earlier in the season to knock them out of the Carling Cup, struck again on 18 minutes to give Latics a crucial lead. It was no less than Wigan's Premier team deserved as they had squandered three chances before Emile Heskey knocked the ball to Folan who headed past a stranded Nicky Weaver to score his second Premiership goal in just five outings.
Minutes within that goal hitting the net news filtered through to Latics fans that one of their old boys, Damien Francis, had scored Watford's second goal against Charlton Athletic, who at the start of play were six points behind Latics. The visiting faithful were ecstatic and whilst the City support seemed to wither away as Latics put on a superb display with Folan and Heskey looking like they were going to score every time they were in the City area.
City's response to this was bookings to debutant Michael Ball in the 23rd minute and then Hatem Trabelsi was booked for a foul on Luis Antonio Valencia who was in excellent form on the right wing. On the half hour mark Ryan Taylor and Valencia worked really well but the final ball to Folan fell just a little short. Trabelsi limped off the field of play in the 33rd minute and was replaced by Sun Jihai, and slowly City began to start playing some better football. Joey Barton sent in a lovely cross across the Latics penalty area in the 35th minute but no City player connected with the ball and two minutes later Barton crossed a beautiful ball into the box from a corner which Micah Richards headed goal wards, but Emmerson Boyce was on hand to head the ball off the line.
As the first half ground to a close Latics were happy to let the Citizens have the majority of possession as they just were not creative enough in the final third of the pitch.
The second half started with Stuart Pearce replacing the ineffective Georgios Samaras with debutant Emile Lokonda Mpenza and it was City who started the livelier and in the 49th minute Matt Jackson latched on to a deflected DaMarcus Beasley cross to deny him a debut goal.
In the 53rd minute Latics suffered a blow when Heskey limped out of the action for the second game running to be replaced by Kevin Kilbane. This meant that Lee McCulloch was pushed up front and almost immediately he forced a save from Weaver from a sweetly struck shot from distance.
On the hour mark Barton whipped over another corner and Richards, once again failed to connect with the Latics defence static. Three minutes later Barton tried to capitalise on a Latics error on the edge of their penalty area and fortunately for Latics he sliced his effort woefully wide. Mpenza was looking lively, certainly impressing his manager on his debut as the City fans started to regain their voices as Latics were now playing far too deeply.
Emmerson Boyce, who was having a good game in the heart of the defence was injured in the 69th minute when he clashed with Richard Dunne as both players attempted to come off best with a cross floated toward the near post. He fell awkwardly and although he carried on regardless, it was obvious from the Latics bench that he was really struggling and in the 77th minute he was replaced by David Unsworth. Two minutes earlier Jewell had replaced the tiring Valencia with Nigerian striker Julius Aghahowa in an effort to put some much needed pace into an increasingly lacklustre attack.
The final ten minutes of the second half were almost a mirror image of the closing ten of the first period. City were having a lot of possession but could do nothing in front of goal. With five minutes remaining the City of Manchester Stadium home sections were emptying at an alarming rate and thousands of City's fans didn't see Michael Ball substituted in the 86th minute for Daniel Sturridge or Denny Landzaat have his shot superbly saved by Weaver two minutes before full time.
They also missed Barton crash a free kick, conceded by Leighton Baines, with just a few minutes of time added on remaining, against an eleven man Latics defence, three bookings as tempers flared on both sides and they also missed the final whistle blow on City's fourth consecutive Premiership beating by little Wigan Athletic!
The aftermath of the game saw City replacing Latics one place from the relegation trapdoor, whilst Latics found themselves leap-frogging both City and Sheffield United.
MANCHESTER CITY, Nicky Weaver, Hatem Trabelsi, (Sun Jihai 33), Sylvain Distin, Richard Dunne, Michael Ball, (Daniel Sturridge 86), Micha Richards, Joey Barton, Stephen Ireland, DaMarcus Beasley, Georgios Samaras, (Emile Lokonda Mpenza 46), Bernardo Corradi. Subs not used, Andreas Isaksson, Dietmar Hamann.
Booked, Michael Ball 23 mins, Hatem Trabelsi 29 mins, Richard Dunne 90 mins
WIGAN ATHLETIC, John Filan, Ryan Taylor, Emmerson Boyce, (David Unsworth 77), Matt Jackson, Leighton Baines, Luis Antonio Valencia, (Julius ASghahowa 75), Josip Skoko, Denny Landzaat, Lee McCulloch, Caleb Folan, Emile Heskey, (Kevin Kilbane 53). Subs not used, Carlo Nash, David Cotterill.
Goal scorer, Caleb Folan 18 mins
Booked, Leighton Baines 90 mins, Ryan Taylor 90 mins
Referee, Howard Webb (South Yorkshire)
Attendance, 41,923
Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell named an unchanged Latics line up for this vital 'six pointer' against relegation rivals Manchester City. He stuck with the same team that beat Newcastle United 1-0 at the JJB Stadium last weekend and that meant that Caleb Folan was preferred up front to Julius Aghahowa again.
City, who had prepared for this clash with a trip to Dubai during the week must have wished they'd stayed there as Folan, the player who scored for Chesterfield against City earlier in the season to knock them out of the Carling Cup, struck again on 18 minutes to give Latics a crucial lead. It was no less than Wigan's Premier team deserved as they had squandered three chances before Emile Heskey knocked the ball to Folan who headed past a stranded Nicky Weaver to score his second Premiership goal in just five outings.
Minutes within that goal hitting the net news filtered through to Latics fans that one of their old boys, Damien Francis, had scored Watford's second goal against Charlton Athletic, who at the start of play were six points behind Latics. The visiting faithful were ecstatic and whilst the City support seemed to wither away as Latics put on a superb display with Folan and Heskey looking like they were going to score every time they were in the City area.
City's response to this was bookings to debutant Michael Ball in the 23rd minute and then Hatem Trabelsi was booked for a foul on Luis Antonio Valencia who was in excellent form on the right wing. On the half hour mark Ryan Taylor and Valencia worked really well but the final ball to Folan fell just a little short. Trabelsi limped off the field of play in the 33rd minute and was replaced by Sun Jihai, and slowly City began to start playing some better football. Joey Barton sent in a lovely cross across the Latics penalty area in the 35th minute but no City player connected with the ball and two minutes later Barton crossed a beautiful ball into the box from a corner which Micah Richards headed goal wards, but Emmerson Boyce was on hand to head the ball off the line.
As the first half ground to a close Latics were happy to let the Citizens have the majority of possession as they just were not creative enough in the final third of the pitch.
The second half started with Stuart Pearce replacing the ineffective Georgios Samaras with debutant Emile Lokonda Mpenza and it was City who started the livelier and in the 49th minute Matt Jackson latched on to a deflected DaMarcus Beasley cross to deny him a debut goal.
In the 53rd minute Latics suffered a blow when Heskey limped out of the action for the second game running to be replaced by Kevin Kilbane. This meant that Lee McCulloch was pushed up front and almost immediately he forced a save from Weaver from a sweetly struck shot from distance.
On the hour mark Barton whipped over another corner and Richards, once again failed to connect with the Latics defence static. Three minutes later Barton tried to capitalise on a Latics error on the edge of their penalty area and fortunately for Latics he sliced his effort woefully wide. Mpenza was looking lively, certainly impressing his manager on his debut as the City fans started to regain their voices as Latics were now playing far too deeply.
Emmerson Boyce, who was having a good game in the heart of the defence was injured in the 69th minute when he clashed with Richard Dunne as both players attempted to come off best with a cross floated toward the near post. He fell awkwardly and although he carried on regardless, it was obvious from the Latics bench that he was really struggling and in the 77th minute he was replaced by David Unsworth. Two minutes earlier Jewell had replaced the tiring Valencia with Nigerian striker Julius Aghahowa in an effort to put some much needed pace into an increasingly lacklustre attack.
The final ten minutes of the second half were almost a mirror image of the closing ten of the first period. City were having a lot of possession but could do nothing in front of goal. With five minutes remaining the City of Manchester Stadium home sections were emptying at an alarming rate and thousands of City's fans didn't see Michael Ball substituted in the 86th minute for Daniel Sturridge or Denny Landzaat have his shot superbly saved by Weaver two minutes before full time.
They also missed Barton crash a free kick, conceded by Leighton Baines, with just a few minutes of time added on remaining, against an eleven man Latics defence, three bookings as tempers flared on both sides and they also missed the final whistle blow on City's fourth consecutive Premiership beating by little Wigan Athletic!
The aftermath of the game saw City replacing Latics one place from the relegation trapdoor, whilst Latics found themselves leap-frogging both City and Sheffield United.
MANCHESTER CITY, Nicky Weaver, Hatem Trabelsi, (Sun Jihai 33), Sylvain Distin, Richard Dunne, Michael Ball, (Daniel Sturridge 86), Micha Richards, Joey Barton, Stephen Ireland, DaMarcus Beasley, Georgios Samaras, (Emile Lokonda Mpenza 46), Bernardo Corradi. Subs not used, Andreas Isaksson, Dietmar Hamann.
Booked, Michael Ball 23 mins, Hatem Trabelsi 29 mins, Richard Dunne 90 mins
WIGAN ATHLETIC, John Filan, Ryan Taylor, Emmerson Boyce, (David Unsworth 77), Matt Jackson, Leighton Baines, Luis Antonio Valencia, (Julius ASghahowa 75), Josip Skoko, Denny Landzaat, Lee McCulloch, Caleb Folan, Emile Heskey, (Kevin Kilbane 53). Subs not used, Carlo Nash, David Cotterill.
Goal scorer, Caleb Folan 18 mins
Booked, Leighton Baines 90 mins, Ryan Taylor 90 mins
Referee, Howard Webb (South Yorkshire)
Attendance, 41,923
Labels: City vrs Wigan
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