JJB Stadium; a football game in a rugby town, a football game on a
rugby pitch. Perhaps that’s why the
stadium is rarely filled for football?
Both Moyes and Bruce keep improving their sides. Today though Everton were an example of a
team not playing particularly well but taking all three points. Wigan had more ball but couldn’t really use
it, Bramble has his usual howler and the pitch more than played a part in an
away win.
...and it was only after I'd finished burying him that I realized his coffin was upside down..!
Almost a local derby; but not
quite; plenty of fans made the trip to the JJB Stadium from the City Of Culture. Expectations were high from both sides. Moyes’ side continues to do well in the
Premier League and Bruce’s squad seem too good to go down. The pitch was heavy and was cutting up during
pre match practice. Kept on the heavy
side for the rugby games; it’s not a great surface to play on, for either
side.
Bruce selected a bit of pace and
guile wide but more grit and grind in the middle, height and crosses looked to
be the order of the day. Pretty orthodox
4 4 2 for the ex United defender, Kirkland
keeps goal behind a back line of Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble and Kilbane
(himself an ex Blue). The middle had new
signing Palacios on the right with Brown and Landzaat inside him and Valencia
on the left. Bent and Heskey provide
brawn up front.
Moyes goes with his familiar 4 4
1 1. Howard keeps goal, Hibbert,
Lescott, Jagielka and Valente provide the defence. Carsley sits in front of the back four
alongside Neville, Osman; returning after injury and Arteta. Cahill operates behind Johnson in attack. Johnson and Osman returning to fitness is a
boost as is the form of Jagielka. This
team provides a limited type of attack but plenty of options from
midfield.
Palacios looks bright and show
some strength on the ball but poor finishing in the early going and for the
visitors Arteta shows a good first touch and a heavy second in the Wigan area.
The opening play is patchy;
neither team is helped by the heavy pitch which makes passes harder to pick out
and saps the strength of the runners.
Wigan
is playing some neat football on the left with Palacios showing well and in the
middle they are overpowering the visitors.
Their second half chance comes on the left with Valencia
cutting inside and laying the ball into Melchiot, the ex-Chelsea player misreads
the ball and Everton clear.
Arteta picks up a stupid yellow
card, he gets a second chance to deliver a better ball in from another free
kick in a similar position and Bramble does well to hurry Carsley whose volley
sails over the bar.
It takes Everton a little over
fifteen minutes to create their first good passing move, Johnson win the ball
in the middle and plays it to Neville, the return ball finds Johnson in space
and he is able to cross under pressure from Melchiot, Arteta has time to pick
his spot but only fires straight at Kirkland who is agile enough to parry the
ball away.
Wigan
get their first corner kick a little after twenty minutes, poor Everton marking
by Neville allows Bent a free header, Howard is alert enough to palm the ball
onto the bar before it is cleared.
Everton are disjointed and
struggling, which is as much down to Wigan’s harrying
physical play than as Everton’s incohesiveness and the heavy pitch.
Wigan
is having plenty of the ball, their approach work is good but the final ball in
or the finishing touch isn’t good enough.
Everton are sitting and defending and Heskey is losing the physical
battle with Lescott.
On thirty eight minutes Wigan
come undone, Everton continue with their dogged defending and Arteta plays a
speculative ball up the right flank, Johnson chases; as he has all game;
Bramble is perfectly positioned to cut across Johnson and play the ball back to
his keeper, the defender’s touch is terrible and Johnson nips in front to pick
up the soft back pass. one-on-one with Kirkland the striker
calmly slots the ball between the keeper’s legs for the opener.
Try not to do it against Chelsea!
Wigan’s
mistake prone defender shows some mettle with a few good challenges and
clearances in the moments after the goal.
Everton; rejuvenated by the goal;
come at Wigan and force a corner, Bent’s aerial prowess clears the first ball
behind but the second corner is horribly defended, a momentary lapse of
defensive skills for Wigan as the ball bounces around in the six yard box before
Osman hooks it to the back post, Lescott scores with a smash of a volley to net
his seventh of the season.
Melchiot and Valencia combine on the right to put in a good
cross but no Wigan player is alive to the
delivery.
Neither manager makes half time changes.
Wigan
start the second half in second gear as Everton look for a third, the home side
has to be alert to clear a well delivered Arteta free kick.
Two substitutions change the
complexion of the game. Bruce brings off
Heskey and Landzaat and brings on Sibierski and Koumas. The midfielder’s first touch is priceless, a
sweetly delivered ball to the back post which Howard comes for but doesn’t
reach, an unfortunate Jagielka is unable to move aside as the ball hits him and
caroms into the net. Really poor
goalkeeping.
The goal invigorates Wigan but their best moments all come from Koumas free
kicks which Everton aren’t inclined to be generous with.
Plenty of Wigan play in front of
the visitors but a lack o####ood final ball or a final ball which isn’t picked
up is a feature of Wigan’s play.
Vaughn’s introduction for Neville
gives Wigan some defensive problems and the game opens up a touch, but poor
passing deprives Wigan of their one sniff off
goal as they break quickly and leave Everton vulnerable.
The home side keeps plugging away
but can’t prise open he obdurate Everton defence.
Everton didn’t play well today, Wigan we’re able to frustrate them for most of the game,
defensively though the visitors looked calm and collected. What surprised me most were the
substitutions. The heavy pitch will have
taken its toll and Wigan weren’t exactly
peppering Howard’s goal so earlier and more substitutions would have made
sense. Let Anichebe, Vaughn and
Fernandes come on and give, Johnson, Cahill and Osman a rest. A good away win though when not at our best. Osman’s form was bright, with some good
passing, tackling and he almost bagged a sweet goal.
..Andy, it feels so smooth!
Bruce shows what he can do
without a huge investment in the team. Wigan played well for long stretches of the game with Palacios
bright throughout. They might feel they
deserved something from the game for their efforts but the contest is about
goals and they rarely tested Howard and rarely found balls to test the Everton
defence. The substitution’s had an
immediate impact and Koumas’ free kicks were Wigan’s
main threat.
Another game where they played
well but didn’t win. That form should
stand them in good stead when playing the sides further down the table.
Probert wasn’t very good. Inconsistent.
Lenient. Authoritarian. He didn’t get anything major wrong but got a
lot of the basics wrong. I’d love to get
a read of his match report to see why he booked Arteta. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yellow card
given in that situation before. Cahill should have got a yellow.
