Wigan 0 Boro 1 - Match Report

By Lillibet M
May 6 2007

Not many tried to give confident predictions for this afternoon’s match between two teams who had not troubled the form book of late. Wigan would be throwing everything into Premiership survival against one point from safety Boro. However with a dismal away record this season the visitors would need to be assured and precise to succeed.

Dong Gook made his opening debut for Boro in place of the troubled Yakubu who was completely out of today’s squad had not found the net since February. Arca started in a central position replacing Cattermole who started on the bench.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Davies, Woodgate, Pogatetz, Taylor, Downing, Rochemback, Boateng, Arca, Viduka, Lee.
Subs: Jones, Riggott, Euell, Cattermole, Johnson.

THE FIRST HALF

Thirty seconds in there was early danger from Wigan, which ultimately was cleared by a magnificent header from Andrew Davies but the strength of the home team’s opening was ferocious.

Boro chances were closed down but some control was lost, the visitors were exposed on the right hand side. On seven minutes a cheeky cross by Valencia was just resuced by Pogatetz as Woodgate could not quite get to the 6 yard box in time and a corner was awarded.

Heskey was getting no joy with Woodgate so started to concentrate on Davies. After 12 minutes however Boro had not got into the game and were doing nothing more than fending off danger.A free kick was taken from 25 yards after an accidental handball by Rochemback. A four man defensive wall was erected and Landzaat’s attempt was thwarted by a truly great block by Rochemback, Heskey finishing the sequence by putting it out of play.

The bulk of the possession was still with Wigan, asserting their intentions of Premiership survival in the strongest terms. Just past the 15 minute mark, after a cross by Taylor, McCullough bust forward with a header that hit the crossbar. This was a whisker away from opening the scoring, and no-one could argue that it wasn’t deserved. Davies took a knock in the process, going down at the far post, and received treatment but was able to carry on after being bandaged.

As the midway point of the half approached the midfield were working hard, but not managing to close Wigan down and it was the defence that were being run ragged, the back line holding up but thoughts were turning to how much more of this pressure they could take.

Against all odds it was Boro who caused an upset. After Baines was booked for a foul on Gook Lee a free kick was played by Downing down the right hand side. Cruelly for Wigan the ball was bent in left footed, deflected and Viduka was ready and sharp as a tiger as his left foot launched the ball dead centre of the Wigan goal.

Wigan 0 Middlesbrough 1 (Viduka 29)

With the scoreline not reflecting the game so far, suddenly Wigan were facing danger as the news came through that fellow strugglers West Ham were 3-0 up. Wigan were taking a little time to recover from the goal, and Boro thankfully took advantage with Arca creating some space and Woodgate continuing to excel. Valencia was the next to pick up a yellow card and it was on the back of this that Downing created a break which was ultimately saved by Porrit, but could well have doubled the lead. Finally the balance of play had been restored from the early ambush.

Six minutes of injury time was added on, caused by the head injuries of both Davies and Wigan’s Taylor. The home team had clearly not given up hope of trying to get level before the break and both sides were blocking the other’s momentum. As this entertaining half ended, dressing room team talks would be vital

THE SECOND HALF

The aggressive start of the first half was not repeated as both sides squared up to try to gain dominance. It was Boro who had the first two chances, the better coming from Downing who ran down the left side to 12 yards but did not pass to the unmarked Viduka, opted to go alone and chose wrongly, incurring the Aussie’s displeasure along the way. Second chance was a rare shot by Rochemback who missed on the right.

Wigan had to wait until the 52nd minute for their first chance which came to naught as it was delivered straight into the arms of Schwarzer. Shortly afterwards the first personnel change came when the injured Baines made way for Unsworth.

Play had momentarily settled with Boro deep in their own half, defending strongly, although a corner won after a Schwarzer long ball saw Davies close to the Wigan goal jumping up high to connect with his forehead, tipping over the bar. Comfortable as carpet slippers was the most fitting description of Boro by this stage in the game as Wigan lost all pace and simply did not get any players anywhere near a scoring position.

By seventy minutes the figures for possession showed a complete reversal of the first half as Boro became dominant. Wigan had reverted to being poor and as activity began on the benches it was difficult to see if Boro intended to capitalise on this advantage and increase the scoring or merely sit back, relax and protect the lead.

It was Boateng who made way for Cattermole to take up the vacated position on the right, the captain having looked uncomfortable in that position all afternoon, albeit that a lot of important work had been completed. Downing took another shot that was well saved by Porrit, but by now there was a real sense that Wigan had resigned themselves to the big finish at Sheffield Utd next week. Any attacks were quickly snuffed out by the Boro back four who had continued to demonstrate sheer class.

INTO THE RED ZONE

As the clock moved into the last 10 minutes, initially more action was going on off the pitch as the behavour of a Wigan fan saw him ejected with a large escort of security. It was then that Wigan cranked up the pressure and very nearly equalised. Unsworth crossed to Folan who made an unforced directional error which was safely gathered up by Schwarzer. Viduka made way for Euell.

Not many more chances were created, Heskey had an excellent chance in injury time which once more went over the bar but ultimately the home team had bowed to the combination of bad luck and solid defending. Boro had done the job needed and doubled the improvement to away match statistics, achieving safety in the process.

Full time fan reaction:
“Get in. Safe. Now we’ll get battered by Fulham and it won’t matter” Marktheborofan.

“Gareth says RELAX” Boro1876

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