Wigan Athletic

EPL Preview: Wigan Athletic Vs Hull City, JJB Stadium, Wigan, March 22, 13:30 GMT.

In the dim and distant past, the meeting of Wigan and Hull would have been either a lower-league affair or a top flight game of Rugby League, but things have changed in the M62 corridor.

Now any match involving Wigan and Hull is top flight Premiership football. No longer Wigan vs. Hull FC or Hull Kingston Rovers but Wigan Athletic and Hull City.

The first meeting between the clubs this season saw Wigan come out on top, scoring five goals from only four attempts on goal at the KC Stadium in Hull.

The man of the moment was Amr Zaki, the Egyptian international who threw his hat in the ring to be the bargain find of the season for Steve Bruce's men.

It was also a big moment for the Tigers. It was the first game in which that they had to pit their wits with the majority of their Championship Playoff winning team.

The only new name on the team sheet that day was the mercurial little Brazilian Geovanni, but the rest of the Hull City team had played in the Play-off final.

The radical changes to the Tigers were due to injuries of two key players—Anthony Gardner and George Boateng—and a loan agreement between Wigan and Hull City for Marlon King, who wasn't allowed to play against his parent club.

The game saw a fundamental change in fortunes for the Tigers after the defeat. It instilled a new understanding of just how harsh the Premiership can be to the new boys on the block.

It also saw the Tigers go on a six-game winning streak that left them with 20 points, level with Chelsea and Liverpool in joint first place.

Today's game will be very different between the two sides. Hull has slipped down the table after the first refreshing forays in the Premiership, and Wigan has solidified their position as an upper mid table Premiership team.

However, if Hull City can claim a win today, it will see them seven points clear of 18th placed Newcastle United.

If Wigan claim the full three points, it will see them rise to seventh in the table, within striking distance of the European places.

Steve Bruce will be hoping that the Latics' influential Antonio Valencia

—despite a long-term hamstring injury—will be fit for the visit or the Tigers. However, he will also be without Lee Cattermole, who is still serving a four-match ban.

Hull City are without their Captain, Ian Ashbee, who is out due to a hamstring injury, as well as George Boateng and Jimmy Bullard, whose injuries are long term.

Phil Brown will be hoping that both centre backs Michael Turner and Anthony Gardner who are 50/50, will pass late fitness tests.

The Tigers will also see Dean Marney return after suspension and Kevin Kilbane could come back into face his old club after been cup tied against Arsenal mid-week.

When Frank Lampard smashed home the winning goal against Stoke last month to complete a miraculous comeback, the turnaround looked set to be a pivotal moment in the Blues’ so far faltering season.

The circumstances in which the England midfielder repeated that feat this afternoon might not have been as miraculous, but the similarities are striking. Both Stoke and Wigan are sides that you would expect Chelsea to dispatch without much bother. But in both games the West Londoners failed to take their chances and almost paid for it, but for the late interventions of Lampard.

To credit Wigan, they showed much more adventure than Stoke did when they pitched up at Stamford Bridge.

For much of the first half they were the better side, and had a succession of early chances.

Petr Cech tipped an effort from Paul Scharner round the post and then both Ashley Cole and John Terry were forced into making goal line clearances.

Chelsea then began to assert some authority, with Didier Drogba firing across goal and wide, and John Obi Mikel having a fierce shot saved by Chris Kirkland.

With 24 minutes on the clock, Chelsea took the lead through their captain, John Terry. Lampard chipped the ball into the box and Bramble cleared. The ball fell to Terry who executed a brilliant scissor kick volley which went in via a deflection off Emerson Boyce. It was an historic goal. It is Terry’s 34th goal for Chelsea, the highest total for a defender in the club’s history.

Terry’s fellow centre back Alex almost doubled the Blues’ advantage moments later, Kirkland however was equal to the task and kept the Brazilian’s drive out.

Kirkland was on hand again to save a shot from Lampard shortly afterwards. The ball rebounded back out to an offside Michael Ballack, whose header was cleared off the line by the impressive Titus Bramble anyway.

Terry and Drogba had further chances before the half was out, but the home side had to settle for just a one goal lead going into the break.

Bramble was again at his very best to deny Chelsea moments after the restart, acrobatically clearing a Drogba shot off the line.

Premier League debutant Michael Mancienne – who had hitherto put in a solid performance – rather clumsily brought down Amir Zaki with just over 10 minutes left. Chelsea survived the free kick, but were made to pay for their profligacy by Oliver Kapo with nine minutes to go.

Manuel Figueroa found some space on the right wing and played the ball in to Kapo, who got ahead of Alex and dispatched the ball past Cech.

The hordes inside Stamford Bridge couldn’t help but feel a sinking sense of de ja vu. Wigan snatched a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge last season, a result that was fatal to Chelsea’s title hopes. A similar result would have left Chelsea languishing in third place and nine points behind Manchester United, surely an insurmountable deficit to overcome.

Thankfully for Guus Hiddink, lightning struck once more. Substitute Juliano Beletti’s free kick was headed on by Ballack, Lampard beat his former team mate Mario Melchiot to the ball and headed in past Kirkland and secure the three points.

The goal makes Lampard Chelsea’s 6th joint highest goal scorer, but more importantly, elevates them into second place and keeps their title hopes – however faint they may appear - alive.

It has been reported this morning that Manchester United are looking to make a last minute bid for Wigan Athletic’s Luis Antonio Valencia.

That bid will be close to £18 million pounds, but does Sir Alex Ferguson really need the Ecuadorian international?

United will be clear at the top should they win their game in hand, their two closest rivals (Liverpool and Chelsea) battle it out this weekend and the Red Devils haven’t conceded in eleven straight Premier League games.

Sounds pretty “hunky dory” to me.

Valencia has without doubt been a star performer since coming to England on loan in 2006 and in 2008, he joined Wigan permanently for an undisclosed fee, which I have no doubt was a speck on the £18 million fee now being speculated.

However, seven goals in 73 league games for Wigan hardly puts him on the same page as Cristiano Ronaldo, the man currently occupying Valencia’s favourite role in the Manchester United side.

So why exactly do United want the 23-year-old?

With the aim of replacing Ronaldo?

There has been a lot of speculation about Ronaldo’s future and I for one wouldn’t be surprised to see the Portuguese winger leave for Real Madrid in the summer. Therefore, Sir Alex needs a ready made replacement as Nani has yet to make the final step up to consistent performer.

To stop Real Madrid getting their hands on the player?

Again there has been speculation linking Valencia with Madrid as well as United and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out there is bad blood between the two clubs. The thought of Manchester United losing both players to Real would be simply “unthinkable” to Sir Alex.

Valencia is available for UEFA Champions League duty?

It helps when spending £18 million on a player to have him available for your biggest games, straight from the off. There aren’t too many top class players around, who have not already featured in Europe’s biggest show this season making the former El Nacional winger even more desirable.

Or maybe they don’t want him at all?

Yes, he is a quality player but Man United, as stated above, already have their man in the 34 times capped Valencia’s position and he won’t be getting dropped anytime soon. £18 million pounds is a bit steep for a substitute, even for the European and World Champions.

I think this is more speculation than fact—Luis Antonio Valencia just doesn’t fit in, does he?

Not bad if you are Wigan however, £18 million plus the £14 million they got for Wilson Palacios makes good reading, especially with Hugo Rodallega to keep them up.

Deal Mr Banker, and congratulations to the Wigan Athletic money making machine, quite a few clubs could learn a lesson or two here.

Mido expressed his joy at linking up with his compatriot Amr Zaki at Wigan Athletic, while coach Steve Bruce lauded the towering striker's capabilities.

The 25-year-old moved on Thursday to Wigan from Middlesbrough on loan until the end of the current season, in a swap deal that saw Marlon King heading in the opposite direction.

Mido believes the Latics are pretty much on track in the Premier League, saying he's eager to help them maintain consistency.

"Wigan are a club moving in the right direction, who play great football and their league position is no fluke," he told the club's official website on Friday.

"My focus now is entirely on making sure we reach safety and then progress as far as we can this season.

"Now I just want to show the Wigan public what I am all about and play football."

Mido pointed out that Wigan had high-profile players in abundance, which he cited as another reason to be excited about his new Premiership adventure.

"I'm really looking forward to teaming up with some excellent players," the Egypt hitman elaborated.

He's also enthusiastic about playing alongside his fellow countryman Zaki, who has made a spectacular impact since he arrived at JJB early this season.

"I'm also really pleased to be teaming up with Zaki," said Mido.

"He is a top player and a good friend and it always helps when there are familiar faces when you join a new club."

The former Zamalek prodigy seemed to be flattered that former Manchester United Player Bruce showed interest in his services.

"When a man like Steve Bruce, who has achieved so much in the game, says he wants you, you have to take up opportunities like that," Mido added.

On the other hand, Bruce dished out praise for the former Roma marksman, adding that the latter would notably beef up Wigan's frontline.

"Mido brings vast experience to the table," commented the Wigan coach.

"He has a good Premier League pedigree having scored goals at Tottenham and Middlesbrough, and he has also played for some huge European clubs, where he gained Champions League and UEFA Cup experience.

"He is still a relatively young man with potentially his best years ahead of him and hopefully he can produce a bit of magic for us during the rest of the season."

FIRST HALF:

Tottenham have knocked Wigan out of the third round of the F.A. Cup this evening with a long awaited 3-1 win. The goals were long awaited as well.

Wigan showed grit throughout, taking advantage of some criminal Spurs defence episodes. Unfortunately for Steve Bruce's Lattics, the goals that they rightfully deserved never materialised.

The greater amount of possession was Wigan's. Spurs had their first problem only in the fifth minute when Valencia planted a cross onto Henri Camara's head.
But luckily for Spurs, the ball went wide.

Tottenham responded with a one-two passing between midfielder Luka Modric and Russian (goal)tank Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Eventually the ball ended up at the feet of Modric who pulled the trigger without success. His left-footed shot ended up going wide as well.

David Bentley, who I think pulled his weight tonight, then launched a great swinging cross to Darren Bent. Still, the net didn't move an inch as Wigan's keeper Richard Kingston collected the headed ball without fail.

Both teams had woken up a bit more by this point in the game.
A seventeenth minute corner was taken by ex-Ajax midfielder Daniel De Ridder but no Wigan player was there to greet it with a header.

Just a quick (if not useless to this article) fact, Daniel De Ridder had actually been a previous transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur along with a shedload of other teams while at Ajax in 2005.

At 20 minutes Bentley took a free kick into the Wigan penalty box where it was almost sliced into the net by Kevin Kilbane. Still, it wasn't and was put behind for a corner.

“Trouble” struck Tottenham as Darren Bent had to be substituted due to injury. He was replaced by Fraizer Campbell. Campbell proved to be a menace the minute he got on the pitch.

A long sweeping ball down the left wing was retrieved and crossed by Bentley to where Campbell had ran in. However, no goal. The ball went just wide at the left post.

Wigan then pushed Spurs back and held them there while Daniel De Ridder struck a
half-volley which was confidently saved by Gomes (for once).

 

To be fair, Gomes had been solid throughout the match.

 

At the stroke of 42 minutes, Didier Zokora felt the full force of Michael Dawson’s clearance kick which knocked his mangoes halfway into his intestines.

Various teammates ran up to him to voice their concerns for his well-being and manhood. Those concerns were along the lines of “ha ha ha ha ha ha ha that was so f*cking funny!”

 

It appeared as if the F.A. Cup might not have been the only cup needed at a time like this.

 

 

SECOND HALF: 

Five minutes into the second half and a cheeky Fraizer Campbell got clipped on the leg and brought down by Kingston inside the penalty area sending Spurs fans into a frenzy of celebration before the penalty was even a goal!

Pavlyuchenko converted the penalty to a goal by tapping it into the left hand side of the net.

It wasn't too long before Campbell had a chance at a goal again via a diving header but Kingston produces a great save by palming it away with his right hand.

Wigan soon came to life again. Michael Dawson made a duff header that fell kindly for Camara. He was approaching goal almost ready to shoot but Woody saved the day by nudging the ball out of play from under Camara’s foot.

On 65 minutes, Pavlyuchenko started a hoodoo of missed chances for himself again. He cottoned on to a great pass and attempted to dink the ball over a fast-approaching Kingston, but it bounced wide.

Spurs then doubled the lead (and Wigan’s agony) at 70 minutes. Corluka passed the ball across to Jamie O’Hara in plenty of time and space. O’Hara’s shot was aggressive but promising. The post ricocheted it, but straight onto Luka Modric’s head.

That goal looked a bit accidental considering the fact that he had tripped and slid forward on his front like a penguin on ice.

Controversy also reigned supreme at the time because Figueroa was injured and staying down at the other end of the pitch while play continued, allowing the goal to be scored.

Figueroa had been put on in place of Daniel De Ridder just minutes before. Alan Wiley (referee) still allowed the goal to stand.

The game still wasn’t wrapped up in gift wrapping for Spurs yet. Henri Camara made good use of Spurs’ make-a-three-course-meal-of-it defending to poke in a goal from close range.

This gave the northern side a bit of hope with just two minutes and plus three minutes of stoppage time to go.

All hands on deck for Spurs as Camara emerged again with a shot. Gomes parried it clear and was met with a rapturous round of applause, this time a bit less sarcastic than previous occasions.

In the last minute of injury time, after a lot of wasted chances, the Russian Roman (Pavlyuchenko) conquered the goal net again.

He took a few touches across the outside of the box from the left wing and then struck a fine shot into the left side of the net unaffected by Kingston’s efforts.

Done and dusted.

The fourth round awaits them.

Can Spurs go on to win the Cup this season?

The way Spurs have played this evening wouldn’t be enough to defeat the likes of Manchester United or Arsenal, so it will take a lot of tactical work and mentality boosting.

But please do remember what my headline for this article was. 

You can understand all the talk about the big games of the season coming against Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United, but for Arsenal, it's different: The biggest game of their season is at home against Wigan Athletic.

Arsenal's current longest winning streak of the season is three games, and that isn't good enough for a team with ideas of winning the title. Far too often this season big victories have been followed up by embarrassing defeats, and that's why Arsenal are being written off by many pundits.

For instance, after the victory over Manchester United in November, Arsenal followed it up with a home defeat against Aston Villa, and then a big 3-0 defeat at Manchester City. Their next win was against Chelsea of all teams, which shows a worrying trend of beating the big teams, and failing miserably against smaller sides, with Arsenal also having lost to Fulham, Hull City and Stoke City this season.

To prove that Arsenal mean business, they have to beat Wigan tomorrow afternoon at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal's youngsters have already done it in the Carling Cup this season, but it remains to be seen if the first team can follow suit.

Steve Bruce knows what damage Arsenal can do when they've got the ball and are running at the defense, so he will come to frustrate the Gunners. Also, as proven against Liverpool, Wigan can score big goals away from home, and Amr Zaki is set to return for the Latics from injury, so Arsenal's defense will have to watch out for him.

The questions will not go away if Arsenal beat Wigan. There will still be massive pressure on Arsenal to beat Middlesbrough the following week, and then Liverpool at home just before Christmas.

If Wigan win at the Emirates, serious questions will be asked as to Arsene Wenger's capability, and Arsenal's chances for the future, especially as they have been knocked out of their most realistic chance of a trophy, the Carling Cup.

If Arsenal fail to win, they will seriously consider putting all their eggs into the FA Cup or the Champions League.

Ever since I first watched Egypt win the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, I wondered how it could have happened. When I watched them repeat the feat this past year in Ghana, my surprise was replaced by great intrigue.

I certainly didn't claim to be an expert on African football, but it wasn't what I expected.

Quality players like Didier Drogba, Stephen Appiah, Samuel Eto'o, Yakubu, and Michael Essien were found amongst the other teams competing. Meanwhile, the only player in the Egyptian squad readily recognizable to fans of the English league would have been Mido.

Mido, however, had been relatively inconsistent at both Tottenham and Middlesbrough during his spells there.

Following the 2006 win, I thought it was possibly a one-off. After their repeat win this year, my doubts about the quality talent that Islamic countries are capable of producing all but went away.

I just wondered why these players hadn't been making their way to England yet. After all, if the Premier League is the so-called "greatest league in the world," how could the best players in north Africa (or the Middle East) not be playing there?

Of the 23 squad members for Egypt in 2006, only two were plying their trade outside of the Middle East. In 2008, the number had only increased to three.

Following Egypt's wins, however, other leagues began to take notice. Despite that many of these players in Middle Eastern countries play in supposedly "weak" or "inferior" leagues, there was legitimate talent being produced in these countries.

Or, if they weren't being trained in Islamic countries, their ancestry was certainly heavily connected to there.

In England, we had already begun to see some of it through Mido and Blackburn's Tugay. But others have slowly begun to appear, including Hossam Ghaly (Tottenham), Mohamed Shawky (Middlesbrough), and Ali Al Habsi (Bolton).

Other players, such as Middlesbrough's Tuncay Sanli, Wigan's Amr Zaki, and Portsmouth's Nadir Belhadj are proving that the pedigree of these players deserves more than bit parts in the Premier League.

Having ancestry in these Islamic countries is developing into more than just riding in on the coat-tails of success from Zinedine Zidane, whose own Algerian ancestry was oft-forgotten.

The success of Amr Zaki in particular has been a great boost to players with ancestry in Islamic countries, as his start to life in the Premier League with Wigan Athletic has been nothing short of sensational. It is not at all surprising that he is already being linked with a move to a "bigger club" in England and elsewhere in the near future.

Once upon a time, sub-Saharan African players plying their trade in England were looked down upon as not being the quality that the league deserved. It has been some time since we've heard these comments.

I had already seen a number of quality African players at Portsmouth, and I knew that their was immense quality coming from the continent. I knew that these players were going to play a huge part in English football in the future.

Enter Drogba, Adebayor, Essien, Sulley Muntari, Soloman Kalou, and many others.

Now, I am confident in saying that in the coming seasons, we will be seeing a prominent contingent of Middle Eastern and North African players crossing the channel.

And I believe that such players arriving in England (rather than in France or in Germany) will only be beneficial for the league as a whole.

I am hopeful that the Premier League will continue to see players the quality of Zaki coming to its shore.

Amr Zaki, the powerful Egyptian who dominated headlines during his stay with Wigan Athletic, is reportedly heading to Santiago Bernabeu to join world giants Real Madrid.

The fan favorite at JJB Stadium has caught the attention of major clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid.

The 25-year-old joined Wigan in the summer on a season-long loan from Egyptian side Zamalek after a long protracted pursuit by Bruce.

Despite claiming his loyalty to the Latics, Zaki seems to be already breaking his promise to remain with the club that jump-started his European football limelight.

"Over the next few weeks, or however long it takes, we will try and open negotiations with Zamalek and do everything in our power to try and make sure he stays here," said Wigan head coach Steve Bruce.

However, that may not be the case.

The Latics are accepting the fact that Zaki will be lured by one of the top clubs around the world. In effect, Wigan have set out and put an eye on his fellow 25-year-old Egyptian teammate Emad Moteab (pronounced: Met-Eb).

He currently plays for Saudi Arabian giants Al-Ittihad, where he is currently the top scorer in the Saudi Arabian league with six goals in eight games.

Wigan's official Web site reported that General Manager John Benson has been over to Egypt and watched Moteab play for his country in their 5-1 victory over Benin when he scored two goals.

"Moteab`s agent Nader Shawky, who is also Zaki's agent, started negotiations with his original club [Egyptian] Al Ahly for a possible move to Wigan Athletic in January," reported the official website.

Moteab, has always expressed his utmost desire and dream to play in the Premier League. However, he has faced commiserations in the past.

According to Shawky (his agent) two weeks ago, Everton had agreed a deal to sign the Egypt international in the January transfer window.

The fee was thought to be £2m-£3m rising depending on performance and starts. However, Everton manager David Moyes said he was not interested in signing him.

In another instance, Moteab's deal with league one club Bristol city was waved off due to playing his final match with original Egyptian Al-Ahly club against arch rivals Zamalek in the Cairo Derby.

Bristol City officials made it clear that his participation in any game after signing his contract would cause his contract to be immediately terminated.

All Egyptian football fans want to dearly witness this talented striker make a move to the Premier league.

Moteab Highlights

• Believe it or not: He's more talented than Zaki.
• His physical frame is perfect for the Premier league.
• Perhaps his most notable aspect of his game lies in his ability to confuse defenses due to his constant movement. He never stops moving around the 18-yard box.
• Clinical finisher. Period.
• Takes some time to adapt to a certain style of play.
• Will take more time than Zaki to show off his talent completely.

Titles

• He was a Bronze Medalist with Al-Ahly at the FIFA Club World Cup 2006.
• Major titles Al-Ahly that include: Two consecutive CAF Champions League titles (2005, 2006) and winner of two consecutive Egyptian Cups.
  
• Has scored 27 goals in 49 appearance with the Egyptian National Team. Winner of two consecutive African Cup of Nations (2006, 2008).
  

Individual Titles

• Egyptian Premier League Top Goalscorer 2004/05.
• Named the best striker in Africa in 2005.
• Named second-best Striker in Africa in 2006.

They check in with a stunning average age of 19, yet the squad has the maturity of a first-team Premiership side. The side boasts a team with expectational ball skills, footballing minds, speed, strength, and atmosphere, so there's a whole lot of reasons to get excited about Arsenal's Carling Cup chances

Arsenal will want bitter revenge against Wigan due to Wigan's goal in the dying seconds sent Arsenal out of the Carling Cup in 2005-06, and what better way to do it than with a team that boasts such talent?

The side is likely to contain Amuary Bischoff, who is hugely talented but is very injury-prone; Aaron Ramsey and Jach Whilshere will also no doubt be wanting to make their marks as they are on the brink of first-team experience. Likely side makeup:

Lukas Fabianski (c)

Gavin Hoyte

Alexandre Song

Johan Djourou

KieranGibbs

Jack Whilshere

Amuary Bischoff

Aaron Ramsey

Fran Merida

Nicklas Bendter

Carlos Vela

Substitutes: Jay Simpson, Francis Coquillen, Vito Mannone, Henri Lansbury, Abou Agogo, Rui Fonte, Emmanuel Frimpong, Mark Randall

A side with immense talent that should easily be able to carve up a feeble Wigan. Fabiasnki will keep the goal mouth safe whilst the defence is equipped with strength out wide and experience in the middle. The midfield has talent beyond the sky, which is most likely to assist in a handful of goals, and, finally, Carlos Vela up front will no doubt give Wigan headaches. Vela will no doubt become one of the world's best strikers, and it would be wise not to put money on him to get in on the action.

Jay Simpson is a player who is anxious for a run after he was named League One Player of the Year last season when he was on loan to Millwall.

I expected a huge game with may goals. My view is Arsenal, 5-0 (Vela 2, Simpson 2, Whilshere 1).

Liverpool fans around the world were once again left biting their fingernails, as their team came from behind to beat a spirited Wigan Athletic at Anfield. They needed the win to stay on level points with league leaders Chelsea, who had earlier demolished a hapless Middlesbrough 5-0 during the lunch time encounter at the Riverside Stadium.

Much of the pre-match talk centred on the impact of the international break, with Liverpool entering the match without top scorer Fernando Torres, as well as the missing Ryan Babel and Javier Mascherano, who only returned to Melwood on Friday afternoon. 

Wigan had their own injury worries with former Liverpool player Emile Heskey; a reputed transfer target for Rafael Benitez in the January transfer window, picking up a knock on international duty with England.

Daniel Agger replaced the in-form centre back Martin Skrtel, who suffered knee ligament damage in the stirring win over Manchester City 13 days ago, whilst Dirk Kuyt moved up front to partner Robbie Keane.

Kuyt's replacement on the right of midfield was Jermaine Pennant, who made his first Premier League start this campaign.

The First Half

Wigan adopted an attacking approach from early on, showing they were not content to play a 10-1 formation, which soon paid dividends for the visitors.

A terrible mistake at the back between Pepe Reina and Daniel Agger allowed Egyptian striker Amir Zaki to rob the Dane and finish coolly past the advancing Liverpool keeper.

It was the seventh goal in all competitions for the striker, who looks to have been a good acquisition by the Wigan manager Steve Bruce.

Liverpool went searching for an equaliser, and it soon came for the home side when Dirk Kuyt scored his third goal in as many matches. 

Keen to make amends for his earlier mistake, Agger carried the ball a good 50 yards into the Wigan half, exchanged a neat one-two with Riera before he showed great skill in the box to allow him to centre for Kuyt, who's shot came off a diving Kirkland, but still had the pace to find the back of the net.

Liverpool pushed for a second goal with an excellent shot from Kuyt some 20 yards out which was only just tipped onto the bar by Kirkland. This was soon followed up with a great chance for Riera, but he could only direct his header wide of the target. 

The home side were dominant in the lead up to halftime, but the Kop was stunned in to silence as the Wigan striker Zaki—the joint top scorer in the league—acrobatically converted an Antonio Valencia cross that gave Reina no chance.

It was an excellent goal, which gave Wigan a lead they had deserved for their persistent attacking play during the game against the joint league leaders.

The Second Half

With Wigan leading away from home, you could have been forgiven for thinking that they would close up shop and get everyone behind the ball, but to their credit, they continued to defend well against the Reds—who came out strong after the interval in search of the equaliser they needed.

After a poor tackle on Robbie Keane just outside the Wigan box on 72 minutes, Steven Gerrard had Kirkland well beaten with the awarded free kick going narrowly wide of the right post.

Antonio Valencia's refusal to keep the mandatory distance from the ball before the Gerrard free kick earned him a yellow card and just three minutes later he was shown another, followed by the red, for a very poor tackle on Xabi Alonso.

Interestingly, it was the third time in three matches that a player has been sent off for a bad tackle on the Spaniard.

Replacing fullbacks Andrea Dossena and Alvaro Arbeloa with Nabil El Zhar and Yossi Benayoun, Rafa was making his intentions clear to his team; he wanted three points from the game.

Liverpool were now playing with just two at the back, a decision that soon paid dividends for the manager. The substitute El Zhar had received praise from the Anfield faithful for his role in their come-from-behind win over Middlesbrough earlier in the season and the young Moroccan had an almost immediate impact after coming on.

He worked his way down the left well, confusing the Wigan defence with some clever stepovers, and following an excellent dummy from Gerrard, the ball found its way to Riera in plenty of space to drill into the bottom right hand corner for his first goal in a Liverpool shirt. 

The Winning Goal

With just 10 minutes remaining, the Liverpool supporters where asking if they could pull another result out of the bag. They soon got their answer with Dirk Kuyt, the hero of the Eastland’s come back, popping up for his second consecutive game winner and his fourth goal in three games. 

Jermaine Pennant, who looked dangerous on the right, crossed well for Kuyt to score with an acrobatic finish to give Liverpool the lead on 85 minutes. The Reds managed to hold out for the remaining 10 minutes, which included five minutes of added time, to claim all three points.

Attention now turns to Liverpool's meeting with Atletico Madrid this coming Wednesday, which is followed by a top-of-the-table clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next weekend.

With any luck, we Liverpool fans won’t be faced with the roller-coaster excitement of the past few games. I don't think my heart, or my girlfriend, can deal with the stress and the screaming.