Reading 3 v 2 Wigan Athletic
30th January 2007
Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell has overseen the breaking of more than a few records during his tenure at the JJB Stadium. However, if the result was to go against his team at the Madejski Stadium he would be the manager holding the most unpleasant record of being the boss with the most consecutive defeats since Latics' election into the Football League in 1978. Latics started this game on the back of seven consecutive league defeats against a Reading team riding high in the Premiership with a very good home record which has seen them virtually safe from relegation following their promotion into the top flight in May last year.
Jewell opted to give a full debut to new signing Caleb Folan in place of Kevin Kilbane, whilst Emmerson Boyce was converted to centre half for the game to accommodate the welcome return of Ryan Taylor at right back. Steve Coppell, who had signed a former Latics transfer target, Colchester United centre back Greg Halford, before kick off fielded the team that has served him well all season, although Dave Kitson was on the bench following his recent recovery from injury.
With Latics needing a victory to stave off the very frightening prospect of relegation Latics could not have got off to a better start when former England hit man Emile Heskey hit a superb volley from the left hand side of the Royals penalty area which gave Marcus Hahnemann no chance. The goal for Heskey, the 99th of his league career, was long overdue and it gave Latics' black shirted three man attack force the early impetus, with Folan in particular looking up for the challenge of claiming a place in the starting line up on a regular basis. As early as the thirteenth minute he almost claimed a debut goal, but his spinning volley clipped the Reading bar.
Reading gradually clawed their way back into the game and Steve Sidewell was unfortunate to see his teasing cross fly over the Wigan bar on the quarter hour mark. Eight minutes later the Royals wasted a gilt edged chance to equalise, but Leroy Lita headed over the bar when it would have been easier top score. Latics fought back and Folan was just a fraction of connecting with a through ball from Heskey to put Latics two goals up before Sidwell failed to capitalise on an error from Chris Kirkland when he scooped the ball that the keeper had fumbled wide of the Latics goal with 28 minutes of the game gone.
Reading were not to be denied though and just two minutes later they equalised courtesy of an Ivor Ingimarsson header following a jinking run past the Latics defence and a beautiful cross by Lita which Ingimarsson connected with perfectly. The goal spurred Reading on and for the remainder of the half Latics found themselves under almost constant pressure, with Kirkland called on to save a rasping shot from Glen Little that would have put Reading ahead in the 35th minute, and it was with great relief that they went in at half time with the score still 1-1. Especially given Latics' recent spate of conceding goals in time added on at the end of half or full time.
Within minutes of the restart, during which neither manager made any tactical changes, Leighton Baines crossed the ball into the Reading box and Folan, once again, failed to connect to score a dream debut goal. Within a minute Little again let rip with a thunderous shot from long range effort which Kirkland saved competently, although he had a let off with Readings' next attack when Sidwell struck a shot into the ground and wide of the post.
It was third time lucky for the Royals though, who sent their fans wild when Shane Long, returning from injury, rattled the ball past Kirkland after Stephen Hunt's chip into the danger area, and suddenly Latics were looking very vulnerable indeed. After a five minute spell of Reading pressure it was Latics who had the next opportunity to score, but a Heskey effort was gathered at the second attempt by Hahnemann. That proved to be his last match action as he was replaced on the hour mark by Kevin Kilbane as Jewell decided to opt for a McCulloch and Folan front two with the former Everton man slipping into the berth left open by McCulloch.
The introduction of Kilbane saw Latics up the pace a little and McCulloch, called up into the Scotland squad earlier in the day, was unlucky not to latch on to a through ball from the lively Baines. But the response from Reading was almost instant with Little firing a shot across the Wigan goal, fortunately, there was no Reading player available to latch on to it.
McCulloch was substituted by Jewell in the 66th minute, and an attack that started with a three man strike force was reduced to just one, and he was a raw recruit, making his debut after being signed from Chesterfield! Then just two minutes Jewell brought on Matt Jackson for David Unsworth.
It really was backs to the wall now for the men in black and but for some sloppy play from an over confident Reading side the deficit could have been more than one goal. To their credit, Latics refused to give up on the game and with ten minutes remaining news filtered through that West Ham United had been beaten by Liverpool at Upton Park which meant that at least Wigan would still be clear of the relegation zone no matter how this game finished.
Coppell replaced the tiring Shane Long with his talisman striker Dave Kitson in the 81st minute and from that moment on you sensed that Latics would not get anything from the game. Within a minute he was bearing down on the Wigan goal and but for a scuffed shot the deficit would have been two goals, putting an end to the game. However, when you are down there is no respite and when Lita scored from an offside position with two minutes remaining Latics' misery was complete despite Denny Landzaat scoring a second goal for Latics with just seconds of the game remaining.
By the time the final whistle blew Latics realised that Sheffield United had gone five points clear of them and it looked like it was now any one of four teams (Wigan Athletic, West Ham United, Charlton and Watford) destined to fight the drop from now on. And with the awful club record of eight consecutive Premiership beatings hanging over them, times are hard at the JJB Stadium.
READING, Marcus Hahnemann, Ivar Ingimarsson, Andre Stephane-Bikey, Graeme Murty, Nicky Shorey, James Harper, Glen Little, Stephen Hunt, Steve Sidwell, Shane Long, (Dave Kitson 81), Leroy Lita. Subs not used, Alex Pearce, Adam Federici, John Oster, Ulises De La Cruz.
Goal scorers, Ivor Ingimarsson 31 mins, Shane Long 51 mins, Leroy Lita 88 mins
Booked, Shane Long 58 mins
WIGAN ATHLETIC, Chris Kirkland, Ryan Taylor, Emmerson Boyce, David Unsworth, (Matt Jackson 68), Leighton Baines, Luis Antonio Valencia, Josip Skoko, Denny Landzaat, Lee McCulloch, (Andreas Johansson 66), Caleb Folan, Emile Heskey, (Kevin Kilbane 59). Subs not used, John Filan, Andreas Granqvist.
Goal scorers, Emile Heskey 3 mins, Denny Landzaat 90 mins
Booked, Caleb Folan 71 mins
Referee, Steve Bennett (Kent)
Attendance, 18,149
Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell has overseen the breaking of more than a few records during his tenure at the JJB Stadium. However, if the result was to go against his team at the Madejski Stadium he would be the manager holding the most unpleasant record of being the boss with the most consecutive defeats since Latics' election into the Football League in 1978. Latics started this game on the back of seven consecutive league defeats against a Reading team riding high in the Premiership with a very good home record which has seen them virtually safe from relegation following their promotion into the top flight in May last year.
Jewell opted to give a full debut to new signing Caleb Folan in place of Kevin Kilbane, whilst Emmerson Boyce was converted to centre half for the game to accommodate the welcome return of Ryan Taylor at right back. Steve Coppell, who had signed a former Latics transfer target, Colchester United centre back Greg Halford, before kick off fielded the team that has served him well all season, although Dave Kitson was on the bench following his recent recovery from injury.
With Latics needing a victory to stave off the very frightening prospect of relegation Latics could not have got off to a better start when former England hit man Emile Heskey hit a superb volley from the left hand side of the Royals penalty area which gave Marcus Hahnemann no chance. The goal for Heskey, the 99th of his league career, was long overdue and it gave Latics' black shirted three man attack force the early impetus, with Folan in particular looking up for the challenge of claiming a place in the starting line up on a regular basis. As early as the thirteenth minute he almost claimed a debut goal, but his spinning volley clipped the Reading bar.
Reading gradually clawed their way back into the game and Steve Sidewell was unfortunate to see his teasing cross fly over the Wigan bar on the quarter hour mark. Eight minutes later the Royals wasted a gilt edged chance to equalise, but Leroy Lita headed over the bar when it would have been easier top score. Latics fought back and Folan was just a fraction of connecting with a through ball from Heskey to put Latics two goals up before Sidwell failed to capitalise on an error from Chris Kirkland when he scooped the ball that the keeper had fumbled wide of the Latics goal with 28 minutes of the game gone.
Reading were not to be denied though and just two minutes later they equalised courtesy of an Ivor Ingimarsson header following a jinking run past the Latics defence and a beautiful cross by Lita which Ingimarsson connected with perfectly. The goal spurred Reading on and for the remainder of the half Latics found themselves under almost constant pressure, with Kirkland called on to save a rasping shot from Glen Little that would have put Reading ahead in the 35th minute, and it was with great relief that they went in at half time with the score still 1-1. Especially given Latics' recent spate of conceding goals in time added on at the end of half or full time.
Within minutes of the restart, during which neither manager made any tactical changes, Leighton Baines crossed the ball into the Reading box and Folan, once again, failed to connect to score a dream debut goal. Within a minute Little again let rip with a thunderous shot from long range effort which Kirkland saved competently, although he had a let off with Readings' next attack when Sidwell struck a shot into the ground and wide of the post.
It was third time lucky for the Royals though, who sent their fans wild when Shane Long, returning from injury, rattled the ball past Kirkland after Stephen Hunt's chip into the danger area, and suddenly Latics were looking very vulnerable indeed. After a five minute spell of Reading pressure it was Latics who had the next opportunity to score, but a Heskey effort was gathered at the second attempt by Hahnemann. That proved to be his last match action as he was replaced on the hour mark by Kevin Kilbane as Jewell decided to opt for a McCulloch and Folan front two with the former Everton man slipping into the berth left open by McCulloch.
The introduction of Kilbane saw Latics up the pace a little and McCulloch, called up into the Scotland squad earlier in the day, was unlucky not to latch on to a through ball from the lively Baines. But the response from Reading was almost instant with Little firing a shot across the Wigan goal, fortunately, there was no Reading player available to latch on to it.
McCulloch was substituted by Jewell in the 66th minute, and an attack that started with a three man strike force was reduced to just one, and he was a raw recruit, making his debut after being signed from Chesterfield! Then just two minutes Jewell brought on Matt Jackson for David Unsworth.
It really was backs to the wall now for the men in black and but for some sloppy play from an over confident Reading side the deficit could have been more than one goal. To their credit, Latics refused to give up on the game and with ten minutes remaining news filtered through that West Ham United had been beaten by Liverpool at Upton Park which meant that at least Wigan would still be clear of the relegation zone no matter how this game finished.
Coppell replaced the tiring Shane Long with his talisman striker Dave Kitson in the 81st minute and from that moment on you sensed that Latics would not get anything from the game. Within a minute he was bearing down on the Wigan goal and but for a scuffed shot the deficit would have been two goals, putting an end to the game. However, when you are down there is no respite and when Lita scored from an offside position with two minutes remaining Latics' misery was complete despite Denny Landzaat scoring a second goal for Latics with just seconds of the game remaining.
By the time the final whistle blew Latics realised that Sheffield United had gone five points clear of them and it looked like it was now any one of four teams (Wigan Athletic, West Ham United, Charlton and Watford) destined to fight the drop from now on. And with the awful club record of eight consecutive Premiership beatings hanging over them, times are hard at the JJB Stadium.
READING, Marcus Hahnemann, Ivar Ingimarsson, Andre Stephane-Bikey, Graeme Murty, Nicky Shorey, James Harper, Glen Little, Stephen Hunt, Steve Sidwell, Shane Long, (Dave Kitson 81), Leroy Lita. Subs not used, Alex Pearce, Adam Federici, John Oster, Ulises De La Cruz.
Goal scorers, Ivor Ingimarsson 31 mins, Shane Long 51 mins, Leroy Lita 88 mins
Booked, Shane Long 58 mins
WIGAN ATHLETIC, Chris Kirkland, Ryan Taylor, Emmerson Boyce, David Unsworth, (Matt Jackson 68), Leighton Baines, Luis Antonio Valencia, Josip Skoko, Denny Landzaat, Lee McCulloch, (Andreas Johansson 66), Caleb Folan, Emile Heskey, (Kevin Kilbane 59). Subs not used, John Filan, Andreas Granqvist.
Goal scorers, Emile Heskey 3 mins, Denny Landzaat 90 mins
Booked, Caleb Folan 71 mins
Referee, Steve Bennett (Kent)
Attendance, 18,149
Labels: Reading vrs Wigan
posted by yotac-admin at 12:14 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home