Premier League match analysis: Wigan Athletic 1-1 Bolton Wanderers
Wigan Athletic played Bolton Wanderers at home, on Saturday. The Latics went into the game with a three match unbeaten run in the English Premier League. Bolton were also unbeaten in their last four league fixtures, with their last defeat coming at the hands of Arsenal in September. The match ended in a goalless draw last season when these two teams met at the DW Stadium.
Goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was back in the side for Wigan since his last appearance in August. Bolton were also without their suspended Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic, who was sent off while playing against Stoke City last weekend.
Bolton looked dominant in the early exchanges but could not manage to trouble Kirkland, who stood firm in Wigan’s goal, while the home side attacked on the counter. Roberto Martinez was forced into making a substitution near the half hour mark when James McCarthy was unable to continue following a tackle by Fabrice Muamba. He was replaced by midfielder Mohamed Diame.
Wigan Athletic’s first real attempt on goal came in the 35th minute, when Charles N’Zogbia latched onto a pass from Hugo Rodallega, before curling a shot fractionally wide of Jussi Jaaskelainen’s goal.
As the game progressed Wigan looked more likely of the two teams to score. A shot from Rodallega was saved by the Finn goalkeeper, while Gary Cahill blocked off N’Zogbia’s effort on The Trotters goal. Gary Cahill and Paul Robinson of Bolton were the only players to receive a booking, at the end of the 1st half.
Wigan started the second half brightly, with a shot on target by their Colombian striker which was held on by Jaaskelainen.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 58th minute when Franco Di Santos slipped a through pass for Rodallega who coolly slotted in the ball in the back of the net. Wigan were lucky to be awarded the goal, as slow motion replay revealed that Di Santo was just offside when he received the initial pass from N’Zogbia.
In the 65th minute, Bolton manager Owen Coyle tried to shake things up by sending on Matthew Taylor and Premier League debutant Rodrigo Moreno as substitutes for Martin Petrov and Lee Chung-Yong respectively. The substitutions paid off almost immediately as Bolton got their goal in the 65th minute to bring the game on level terms. The initial cross from Stuart Holden came in from the right hand side and Kevin Davies got on the end of it to set up two Bolton players waiting in the six-yard box. One of those players was Johan Elmander who tucked the ball in the net, under the diving goalkeeper to make it 1-1.
Wigan, however, came close to scoring their second goal in the ending stages of the match, when headers from Rodallega and substitute Tom Cleverley flashed just wide of Bolton’s goal.
However, the scoreline remained unchanged as the referee blew the final whistle. Both the teams earned a point as they continued their streak of unbeaten matches.
The draw takes Bolton to 8th place while Wigan lie in the bottom half of the table at 15th position.
Tags: