Match Review - Wigan (h)

[Jourdan]

Derby 0-1 Wigan
By Jourdan Rhule

Antoine Sibierski marked his return to fitness by coming off the bench and scoring an 82nd minute winner to defeat ten-man Derby. The Latics displayed dominance against a Derby side lacking cohesion due to an influx of new signings, including newly installed captain Robbie Savage.

In the first half, Athletic created several good opportunities but were very wasteful. Michael Brown hooked Antonio Valencia’s right wing cross over the bar from 10 yards. Leading scorer Marcus Bent was first to debutant Wilson Palacios’ right wing cross but as he darted towards the near post he could only manage to scoop his right foot shot over from 6 yards.

Then when Derby failed to clear their lines, the ball fell kindly to Michael Brown on the edge of the area and the former Sheffield United midfielder attempted to steer his right foot volley into the bottom right hand corner of Lewis Price’s net only to see the Welsh international stretch down low and parry the ball away. The rebound fell to Emile Heskey who picked out Bent at the back post to bundle home. However the goal was ruled out as although Bent was onside when the final ball was played, Heskey was adjudged to be offside when Brown’s shot was taken.

After a slow start by the new look Derby, it was a well worked move minutes before half time that almost saw the hosts break the deadlock. Craig Fagan whizzed down the right wing before cutting infield and passing to Laurent Robert who proceeded to feed Hossam Ghaly who weighed up a shot before trying to thread a pass through to Giles Barnes but the youngster was beaten to the ball by keeper Chris Kirkland.

After that Wigan should have really went ahead, Heskey escaped the offside trap and raced down the left wing before cutting the ball back for Denny Landzaat whose right foot drive was hacked off the line by Tyrone Mears. Valencia was first to the clearance but scuffed his shot embarrassingly wide of Price’s right hand post with the goal gaping.

The second half continued in the same vein with Wigan in the ascendancy but unable to edge ahead. Bent attempted a speculative 25 yard curler only to see it fly inches wide of Price’s left hand post. But then Wigan’s search for a winner and their first away win of the season was aided by a harsh decision by Mark Clattenberg. Claude Davis was already on a yellow card after denying Bent the chance to run ontp Landzaat’s through ball and with about an hour gone, he picked up his second yellow after accidentally catching Bent with his arm after going up to challenge for a header. Derby players protested but it was all in vain as the Jamaican was given his marching orders.

The Rams going down to ten men forced both managers into a re-think. Wigan boss Steve Bruce gave Jason Koumas the chance to make an impact coming off the bench, meanwhile debuts for Tito Villa and former Newcastle winger Robert were cut short as Gary Teale and Marc Edworthy came on for County. This led to a struggle for Derby to engineer attacks without a recognised striker and gave Wigan the initiative to attack.

But Derby resisted until the substitution of Denny Landzaat for Antoine Sibierski swayed the game significantly. Literally seconds after coming on, the Frenchman latched onto Bent’s knock-down header to smash a sweetly struck right foot shot into Price’s bottom right hand corner from 20 yards to leave the Wigan fans jumping for joy and chanting the striker’s name.

Desperate not to lose against his former club, Jewell made another substitution in an attempt to snatch a draw. But the arrival on the pitch of Jon Macken who came on for Hossam Ghaly never looked like inspiring a comeback. The closest Derby came was through Mears who miscued his header from Savage’s last gasp left wing free kick to the disappointment of the Pride Park crowd.

Wigan negotiated the remainder of the game to earn their first away win of the season and leave Derby an alarming 13 points adrift of safety. The Rams will be looking to the FA Cup to keep interest alive in their season as it seems certain that the Rams will be relegated unless they can pull off the greatest of great escapes.

Player Ratings

Price – 6 – Good display, seems to be growing in confidence, although his kicking still needs work.

Mears – 5 – Failing to perform to the high standards he set earlier in the season.

Davis – 4 – His clumsy and unpredictable style of defending ultimately proved costly, although I felt he was unlucky with his second yellow.

Todd – 5 – Fared ok up against the tricky strike partnership of Bent and Heskey.

Mills – 5 – Relatively solid but needs to work on his distribution from the back.

Fagan – 6 – Made life difficult for the Wigan defence with a few probing runs.

Ghaly – 7 – MOTM – Tidy debut for the Egyptian international.

Savage – 5 – Put himself about in an attempt to win over the Derby fans but his lack of match practice overshadowed this.

Robert – 6 – Showed great effort and enthusiasm but lack of match practice showed with some of his free kicks and crosses.

Barnes – 5 – Displayed more desire than usual, but struggled to support lone striker Villa.

Villa – 6 – Worked hard but was left very isolated by a lack of support and frustrated by a lack of suitable service.

Subs.:

Edworthy – 6 – Did well in difficult circumstances.

Teale – 4 – Never looked like inspiring a win or a turnaround.

Macken – 4 – Had too little time to make an impact.

[GresleyRam]

I thought my review of 'SH*TE' was far more accurate!

[MossytheRam]

It was a disappointing end to an exciting week I thought we would turn Wigan over with our new look but the lack of match practice from our new gems shone through which isnt their fault! Hopefully with a full weeks training behind them getting to know one anothers games we will show more of a goal threat at Pompey

P.s. It is now safe to say that we are down