• ‘It has been a turning in our entire history,’ says Martínez
• Alan Pardew expects reaction from his side against Chelsea

Alan Pardew came to the DW Stadium on the back of six successive Premier League wi ns, without a goal conceded in more than 400 minutes of football and Newcastle United looking eminently capable of staying ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in the race for fourth place, yet by the time he left it was his rival manager, the one who supervised a miserable run of eight successive defeats in mid-season, whose praises were being sung by the aforementioned DW.

“Roberto Martínez is a brilliant manager and one day he will get one of the top jobs in Europe,” the Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan, said. “I don’t want to lose him but it is inevitable he will climb the ladder and when that time comes he will leave with my blessing. There have been tough times this season but everyone in Wigan has been behind Roberto. We have not had one fan crying for his dismissal.”

The exact opposite of an owner like Roman Abramovich, Whelan is prone to gush any time a microphone is shoved in his direction but even Pardew used the word brilliant to describe Wigan ‘s four‑goal first‑half display.

“For a team fighting relegation you couldn’t say they lacked confidence, could you?” the Newcastle manager said. “They overload the wide areas and pull you around but I don’t want to say too many negative things about my team because I think that’s unfair on Wigan. They did a brilliant job on us and you have to applaud them. You always think you can get the game back when you have won six but chasing the game gave them the opportunity to score two more and then the game really was gone. If you can call that complacency, I don’t think it will happen again. It’s all about the next three games now and I believe there will be a reaction at Chelsea.”

Surprisingly, in view of the fact that Wigan’s first three goals all came from the flanks, and Newcastle even attempted to match up the home wing-backs towards the end of the first half, Martínez played down the significance of the formation that has now accounted for Manchester Unite d, Arsenal, and Newcastle in recent weeks.

“Players win games, not shapes or systems,” he said. “Getting to a better position in the table brings a psychological benefit, we have probably gone to a different level in terms of believing in ourselves but we know if we don’t get more points it will be a disappointing feeling.”

Wigan will get more points if they attack Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the way they went at Newcastle. Their opening goal fully illustrated their use of space and width, with a wonderful crossfield pass from Shaun Maloney on the left releasing Emmerson Boyce on the right, for a cross that Victor Moses nimbly headed past Tim Krul.

Moses scored a second two minutes later when Fabricio Coloccini failed to intercept Jean Beausejour’s searching cross from the left, before Beausejour and Franco Di Santo combined slickly on the same wing to send Maloney behind the Newcastle backline to beat Krul with a cool finish. Newca stle probably imagined things could not get any worse but in first‑half stoppage time they did, Di Santo trying his luck from 25 yards and finding Krul’s top corner with the sort of perfect strike that underlined the confidence running through his side.

Newcastle improved considerably in the second half, when Papiss Cissé twice hit the woodwork and Hatem Ben Arfa demonstrated on several occasions that he could mesmerise the entire Wigan defence with the ball at his feet but when no goals resulted Pardew withdrew his talented French playmaker and effectively switched his attention to Stamford Bridge.

Could Chelsea’s passage to the Champions League final and the possibility of the fourth‑placed team having to settle for the Europa League after all have subliminally affected Newcastle’s concentration? “Well, it got talked about but so did about a million factors,” Pardew said. “I don’t know it if affected the players but it is something that’s hanging over all the teams who are looking to finish fourth.”

April is supposed to be the cruellest month but Martínez now has reason to think otherwise. “When I arrived at this club we had never beaten a top‑four side,” he said. “Now we have beaten Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle – and for me it was a victory at Chelsea no matter what the scoreline said – so it has been a massive, massive month, one the fans can look back on with immense pride. I think it has been a turning point in our entire history.” Read More

So sayeth the Daily Mail anyway.

Apparently Villa has interest in him, along with Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle.

Kickoff – 20:00 GMT (00:30 IST), 30th April 2012

So, it has all boiled down to this. The largest game of the season is upon us. A city waits with bated breath with the world watching on as Manchester City host Manchester United, in the title decider.

This season, has been one of the best I have witnessed. There has been so much pace, so much passion, so much craziness, so many incidents, so many unexpected results and a horde of drama. And, there’s still more drama. What better can it be than the title clash, between the long standing rivals in Manchester.

By December, Manchester City were literally steamrollering their way in the Premier League. They just had to turn up and demolish teams it seemed. And why not. Bankrolled by the Abu Dhabi group, and armed with some of the most fearsome attacking talents on display in the league, everyone’s favorites to win the title, was Manchester City. In the summer, Mancini used all the cash reserves at his disposal, to prise Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy from Arsenal, to already add to the impressive array of players such as Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Adam Johnson, Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure. The power battle in Manchester seemed to have completely swayed, towards the rising blue tide, when in one destructive balmy afternoon in October, City managed to put 6 past a hapless United, to record their biggest win at Old Trafford in nearly 56 years.

However, the story has not been all smiles. Cue the culprits. Messrs Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli. With big names come big egos they say. And it was inevitable. Carlos Tevez and Roberto Mancini had a public outburst in a Champions League group game against eventual finalists Bayern Munich, a game which they went on to lose 2-0. Supposedly, the Italian manager asked the Argentine hotshot to get ready for warmups. Tevez refused to oblige and faced the wrath of the Italian. Tevez posted a completely different version. According to him, Mancini took out his frustration on the striker, and hence his revolt. Yes, revolt. A revolt, which saw him jetting off to his native, without serving a notice to his employer. For months, Manchester City remained clueless to the whereabouts of Tevez, until he posted a picture of him on the internet, visibly fattened, enjoying a round of golf with his buddies.

If that was not it, City had internal squabbles to deal with. First, there were players who were publicly remonstrating against the manager, on being subbed, more so out-of-favour Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko. While he scored two late on at Old Trafford, in the 6-1 hammering, his form of late has waned, and he has had the temerity to display audacity, on being replaced. Another example is that of Serbian left-back Aleksandr Kolarov, who has never been able to hold on to his place in the squad. While this was going on, Mancini had to deal with another man with a light fuse, Mario Balotelli. While his fight with Jerome Boateng last season, was quite widely publicized, it did little to change the attitude of the enigmatic striker. He has had constant duels on the training ground, with right-back Micah Richards, captain Vincent Komapny, and with Aleksandr Kolarov, in a league game against Sunderland, and Yaya Toure, thereafter.

This has seen the title almost fall out of grasp from the Sky Blues, into the hands of the opportunistic Red Devils. While Carlos Tevez has returned and lost quite a bit of his belly, there were still problems with City, as they went on a poor run. They lost at Swansea, 1-0, and quickly made a comeback, in the next game, to rally and beat Chelsea 2-1. After that, they were held to a draw by Stoke City, thanks to a wonderful goal from Peter Crouch. In their next game against Sunderland, they looked like they were down and out, trailing 3-1, with barely 10 minutes to go. After the Balotelli-Kolarov push-and-shove, City managed to eke out a point, before completely being outplayed by Arsenal in their next game, and losing 1-0 thanks to a late Mikel Arteta goal. To compound their woes, Balotelli got a red card. They have, however pulled themselves back into contention, with a 4-0 thumping of West Brom, a 6-1 away win at Norwich, and a 2-0 win at Wolves.

While the ‘noisy neighbours’ have been, well, noisy, Manchester United went about quietly picking up the pieces since the 6-1 home humiliation. Having started the season, in a more emphatic fashion than their cross town rivals, early games indicated United’s dominance. They first brushed City 3-2 in a thriller at Wembley in the Community Shield, before garnishing it with results like the 3-0 beating of Spurs, the 8-2 crushing of Arsenal, a 5-0 thrashing of Bolton at the Reebok and a 3-1 win over Chelsea, before it all came crashing down to earth in the Manchester derby.

Like I said, they slowly picked up, eking out results. They edged Everton, Sunderland, Swansea and Aston Villa, all 1-0, before coming into their stride, come December. Consecutive 5-0 wins over Fulham and Wigan were sealed, but then it seemed to go horribly wrong. United, who had earlier crashed out of Europe, finishing 3rd in what seemed to be a straightforward group, suffered two losses, at the hands of lowly Blackburn at home 3-2, and a 3-0 loss, away to Newcastle.

When doubts were raised if Fergie and his men were up for it, they responded in typical fashion. First they knocked out Manchester City from the FA Cup, 3-2 at the Etihad, in a controversial game. Then, they went on a fine run in the league, winning 11 of their next 12 games. This included 2-1 wins over Arsenal and Liverpool, and a comeback at Stamford Bridge, after going 3-0 down, to secure a point. This has seen them overturn in what was once termed an unassailable lead, to a 8 point advantage of their own.

However, the unpredictability of results this season has been such, that nothing can be taken for granted. Wigan Athletic outplayed and deservedly beat Manchester United, and then, Manchester United gave away a 4-2 lead, with minutes to go against Everton, to draw 4-4, and tip the scales somewhat equally in favour of both Manchester clubs.

3 points is the difference. The permutations are massive. If Manchester City win, they will go on level with points with United, and ahead on goal difference With games against a topsy turvy Newcastle and relegation threatened QPR, you can almost see them through with winning the title should they win tomorrow.

However, anything but a City win, and one can be sure of the Red Devils coasting towards a 20th league title. They face Swansea at home and Sunderland away on the last day of the season, and with both of them in holiday mood, it could be rollover.

Let’s have a look at the teams then. While Roberto Mancini says, he could play Mario Balotelli, to induce that surprise factor, I feel he will stay on the safer side and play the Argentine duo of Aguero and Tevez, who have 9 goals between them in the last 3 games. What has been a feature to City’s game is the way they have played their midfield of late. Having played James Milner and Adam Johnson on the wings, for most of the campaign, they have narrowed down their play in the last 3 wins. Now, they play a rather more central 4-2-2-2 formation, with Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure/Nigel de Jong in defensive midfield, David Silva and Samir Nasri in attacking midfield, and of course Tevez and Aguero in attack. While this system is quite open for Manchester United to attack on the wings, City’s defensive midfield will hold the key, to help out Richards and Clichy. Vincent Kompany has been majestic this season, and so has Joe Hart. They will have big roles to play tomorrow.

Manchester United, on the other hand, will look to the brilliance of Wayne Rooney, the astuteness of Scholes, and the pace of Valencia and Nani to counter City’s threat. Defence is a major worry for the Red Devils, having leaked 4 against Everton, all of them being the result of poor defending. Rafael looks a major liability, and Rio Ferdinand and Johnny Evans are yet to convince everyone that they are a good defensive team. David de Gea seems to have overcome all the early criticism of him, to become a fine shot stopper as of late. It will be interesting to see if Fergie goes with two upfront in Rooney and Welbeck, or he aims to win the battle in midfield.

It is going to be much more than a game tomorrow. It could be the turning point in City’s history. A moment for them to finally emerge out of United’s shadow. Their turn to have bragging rights in the city. Or will a certain Scot again brand his iron fist and paint the town red.

It is going to be a treat and you certainly wouldn’t want to miss it.

Enjoy the game wherever you are.

Fernando Torres did Villa a favor on Sunday

While Saturday’s draw was less than an ideal result — though that point is better than none! — there were a few good results for Aston Villa on Sunday.

Chelsea buried QPR 6-1 and Tottenham took care of Blackburn 2-0.

The Blackburn loss basically assures that like Wolverhampton, Blackburn will be going down. Which means that there’s really only one spot left to avoid, and Villa will be “competing” with QPR, Wigan and Bolton to do just that. And this is very good for Villa because, as things currently stand, unless we give up around 16 goals in our final two matches, it doesn’t look like we’ll be going down.

Here are the goal differentials as they currently stand.

• Aston Villa -14
• Wigan -22
• QPR -23
• Bolton -28

And here are each team’s remaining games.

• Villa: Tottenham (H), Norwich (A)
• Wigan: Blackburn (A), Wolves (H)
• QPR: Stoke (H), Manchester City (A)
• Bolton: Tottenham (H), West Brom (H), Stoke (A)

So, really, unless Villa lose their final two games and those other three teams pick up a win in each match, Villa should be safe. And looking at those schedules, while I think Wigan can dispose of Blackburn and Wolves rather easily with the way they’ve been playing, I can’t say the same for QPR.

Imagine if Man City beats or draws with Man United on Monday. Do you think QPR is going to City of Manchester Stadium and beating a City team that is playing for a Premier League title? Yeah, I don’t either.

As for Bolton, while West Brom and Stoke are winnable games, nothing Bolton has done this season should make us think they will win either of them. And while Tottenham has struggled lately, they definitely looked better against Blackburn, and they’re also still battling for a possible Champions League berth, or at least a Europa League spot. So the Spurs won’t be taking any days off.

Which isn’t really good news for Villa, either, considering we play the Spurs on Sunday, but I’d say that with goal differential and the remaining schedules of the teams we’re fighting with, it will take a perfect storm of calamity to send Villa to the Championship.

Unfortunately, if there’s anything Alex McLeish specializes in, it’s perfect storms of calamity.

Latics 4 Magpies 0

Both Wigan and Newcastle went into this game in a rich vein of form. The home team had beaten Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal in recent weeks and the Champions League chasing Magpies had won six on the bounce. It was Wigan who started the game in whirlwind fashion and set about devastating their high-flying opponents.

From the kick off Latics took a grip on proceedings dominating possession and denying the opposition any kind of foothold in the game. The two James’, McArthur and McCarthy controlled the centre of midfield and the wing backs Boyce and Beausejour  spent most of their time in the Newcastle half providing some telling crosses and excellent link up play.

Shaun Maloney was pulling the strings and prompting his team mates, with intricate short passes and expansive crossfield balls. His creativity has been a revelation since he broke into the team at Norwich. On 13 minutes it was Maloney who set up the first Wigan goal. He changed the direction of attack when his 30 yard pass found Boyce on the edge of the box, and the wing back crossed for Victor Moses to deftly flick his header past Tim Krul.

On 15 Minutes Wigan went further ahead. Maloney produced a sublime back heel to Moses who then fed Beausejour and when the Chilean’s cross was intercepted by Fabricio Coloccini, the attempted clearance fell to Moses who finished clinically from 8 yards.

It was soon 3-0 to Wigan. After a neat interchange between Beausejour and Di Santo, the Argentinian played in Maloney who took the ball towards goal before expertly finishing from an acute angle.

Newcastle were looking distinctly off colour in their orange kit. But the superlatives were all around for Wigan.

The three Wigan centre backs Alcaraz, Caldwell and Figueroa were outstanding and gave nothing away until Demba Ba had a brief half chance on 44 minutes.

Wigan had completely dominated their opponents and the Latics fans were in dreamland at the end of the first half when Franco Di Santo scored their fourth goal with a superbly flighted chip into the top corner from 25 yards out.

The first half performance must rate as one of the greatest ever by a Wigan Athletic team. Every Wigan player deserving great credit for their commitment and style.

The dominance continued in the early exchanges of the second period. Beausejour exchanged passes with Di Santo before Moses snap shot was well saved by Krul but then mayhem ensued in the Newcastle box as Di Santo scooped a cross towards Boyce and then Moses and McCarthy had shots blocked before the visitors scrambled the ball away.

Newcastle then managed a period of possession and in the process created three good chances for Papiss Cisse. Firstly he should have done better when he drove a shot straight at Al Habsi and then he hit the cross-bar with bending effort before finally hitting the post with a header.

But it was Wigan who finished the stronger and Conor Sammon had a great chance to make it five from a one-on-one with Krul and although the striker beat the keeper, Coloccini cleared the ball off the line.

The game came to a conclusion with Wigan expertly maintaining possession and Newcastle relieved that the score was only 4-0.

To score four goals against a Champions League chasing team and not concede a goal is a tremendous achievement. Wigan’s performance could only be described as awesome and Roberto Martinez and his back room staff should be congratulated on producing such a superb team effort.

With two games to play Wigan are nearly over the finishing line and Premier League survival must now surely be within their reach.

The relegation candidates outshone the Magpies for much of the encounter, and thoroughly deserved their 4-0 victory.  For Newcastle, a first defeat in seven games has seen the bubble burst on Tyneside as dreams of a top four finish come crashing down to earth.

A disappointing end to six match winning streak

The Toon found themselves behind after just 13 minutes when Victor Moses headed past Tim Krul.  Two minutes later a mistake by Coloccini led to Moses’ second, a low drive past Krul who stood by helpless as Wigan piled on the pressure.  A lackluster first half performance was made even worse when Shaun Maloney slipped in down the left flank and charged into the box, coolly slotting home for Wigan’s third, while a cheeky twenty-five yard lob from Franco di Santo again saw keeper Krul well beaten leaving the home side up by four goals to nil at the interval.

Credit must be given to Wigan, as their performance in the first half was of a standard worthy of a top four team, and the intensity and precision of their play completely bamboozled a Newcastle team who had perhaps expected an easier game.

After the break, Pardew’s Newcastle side again started slowly, but fifteen minutes into the second half the Geordies began to show signs of the form which had seen them win six-games-on-the-trot before this encounter.

First an excellent run by Cisse climaxed in a thundering curling shot clipping the top of the crossbar, the visitors best chance of the afternoon.  Then a slice of luck for Latics defender Alcaraz, who having been booked for a challenge in the first half, was lucky to remain on the pitch after using his arm to prevent Cisse from cutting inside of him.  Cisse then hit the post when a searching ball from Ben Arfa found his head at the back post, and another attempt from the Senegalese striker was saved by Wigan keeper Al-Habsi, who had another solid game between the sticks.

Manager Alan Pardew was disappointed with the result but has promised his team will bounce back against Chelsea in midweek.

Following the game, manager Alan Pardew was a little baffled as to why his side had been so poor on the day, but praised Wigan for their intensity and fight, particularly in the opening 20 minutes of the game which they dominated.

“They were terrific, they deserved to win by that scoreline”, he told the BBC’s Jonathan Pearce.

“Some of their play today, we havent faced that for a while.  It’s a great credit to them”.

He was also quick to assure fans that his team would bounce back against Chelsea on Wednesday, showing “the usual intensity” to give them a good game.

Newcastle travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening in a must win game if Pardew’s side wants to remain in contention for Champions League football next season.

Victory for Wigan has seen them move up to 16th in the table, level on points with struggling Aston Villa, and 3 points from safety.

• ‘Champions League football has not gone away from us’
• Martínez does not think 37 points is enough to survive

Alan Pardew has promised a reaction at Chelsea on Wednesday to the complacency that saw his Newcastle team go down 4-0 at the Premier League strugglers Wigan, i nsisting that a Champions League finish is still a possibility.

Chelsea will have a lot to say about that, either at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday or by cutting off the fourth place route to qualification by going into next season’s competition as winners, but Pardew is adamant his players are capable of giving the FA Cup finalists a tough game three days before the Wembley event.

“The possibility of Champions League football has not gone away from us,” Pardew said. “People were saying if we beat Wigan we still had three tough games and perhaps that made us slightly complacent. We talked about it beforehand, tried to make sure it didn’t happen but it’s one thing to talk about it and another to match the intensity Wigan showed in the first half-hour. We just didn’t get a grip in the first 30 minutes, and then they scored an absolutely special goal right on the stroke of half time to make it four.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Wigan, they wer e brilliant but I don’t think complacency is going to be a problem any more. We have now lost to Wigan and we still have three tough games. I’m expecting a reaction on Wednesday night, we know what we have to do. You can get a bit carried away by winning six games in a row, but it’s is important to take a proper away game mentality to Chelsea on Wednesday. Maybe we didn’t really bring that to Wigan, so we can’t complain about the result.”

Roberto Martínez was not complaining about the result either after clinching Athletic’s fifth win in seven matches to move three points clear of the relegation zone. “I though the 4-0 scoreline at half-time was exactly what we deserved,” the Wigan manager said. “That is quite a statement to make because Newcastle are a really strong side in a very good moment but I don’t think anyone could possibly disagree.

“Some of our football was a joy to see and what pleased me most was that we showed a clinical touch in front of goal. We haven’t always done that and it has cost us. We have been on top in games but taken too long to score a goal, that’s why we have drawn games we should probably have won. Now we are turning them into wins, so we are giving ourselves a chance, even though I don’t think 37 points is going to be enough.”

Why do the Latics always leave it so late? “We don’t want to,” Martinez said. “We never set out to do that, but we lost a couple of key players last summer, you need to find new partnerships and it takes a bit of time.”

Wigan’s back three and wing-backs formation also seems to be causing opponents problems, but Martinez is not taking credit for that. “We play a flexible system and keep changing it when we need to,” he said. “But shapes and formations don’t win you games. Players’ performances do that.” Read More

Norwich struggled to get anything going on offense and brought in another striker at half-time, Vaughan, but the change made little impact as Reina was forced to make only one save all match.  Liverpool’s Shelvey had a couple of chances to get on the score sheet, but missed his header off the cross-bar and a volley from point-blank.  Luckily Suarez was able to pick up the slack, finishing his hat-trick with a half-field cannon-shot over the keeper (84′).  Liverpool need to repeat this type of performance next week though when they take on a much tougher Chelsea side in the FA Cup final.

The big surprise from the Premier League today has to be the 4-0 win by Wigan over Newcastle United.  Newcastle remain in fourth place, but they are dangerously close to losing that final UCL spot to Tottenham or Chelsea, and their schedule only gets harder.

Of course the Main Event this week in the EPL is the Manchester Derby on Monday as the top two clubs battle it out.  United are in the driver seat and a win would almost certainly guarantee the title, but City know they beat United 6-1 earlier in the season.

The way things are shaping up Newcastle United will be involved in most of the remaining Premier League issues, but they made an unexpectedly generous contribution to Wigan’s survival chances here at the expense of their own hopes of a top fou r finish.

No one takes Wigan lightly any more since their heroics against Arsenal and Manchester United, yet few could have anticipated quite such a landslide. When the first goal went in it was the first Newcastle had conceded in 411 minutes of football, which is an indication of how consistently well they have been playing. When Wigan took just two minutes to score another one, then sent their fans into rapture by adding two more before the interval, it was tempting to wonder which was the team fourth from top and which was the one fourth from bottom.

Wigan have undoubtedly saved their best until last, with Roberto Martínez only appearing to hit on the right formation and the most effective players to use when relegation seemed a certainty. Victor Moses, Franco di Santo and the vastly underrated Shaun Maloney justified their manager’s decision to leave Hugo Rodallega on the bench, though it was Wigan’s use of wing backs that Newcastle struggled to deal with. T he first two goals both came from the flanks, with Maloney hitting a glorious crossfield ball to Emmerson Boyce for the opener, for Moses to flick a header over Tim Krul from the left foot cross. Moses has never scored twice in the same game for Wigan before, but it only took him two minutes to put that right, taking advantage of Fabricio Coloccini’s mistake in attempting to cut off Jean Beausejour’s searching ball in from the left.

Beausejour and Boyce were hardly performing any defensive duties and finding acres of space on the wings to attack, so belatedly Alan Pardew attempted to change Newcastle’s shape to replicate Wigan’s, with Davide Santon moving across to the right and Jonas Gutiérrez given the run of the left flank. It didn’t work, and Newcastle switched back again for the second half after shipping two more goals.

Beausejour and Di Santo effortlessly passed Danny Simpson out of the game to put Maloney clean through, an opportunity the midfielder cool ly accepted by drawing Krul and slipping the ball past him from a narrow angle. Then on the stroke of the interval, with Newcastle waiting for the whistle and Wigan merely weighing up their options on the edge of the area, Di Santo tried his luck with a shy from 25 yards and the ball fairly arrowed into Krul’s top right corner. If Wigan were having the sort of day when everything went right, Newcastle were clearly having the opposite. It took 40 minutes for Demba Ba to register their first serious attempt on goal, and that was after a defensive mix-up by the home side. It would not be wholly correct to say everything Wigan attempted came off, for some of their passing and decision-taking, especially in dangerous areas of defence, was ludicrously casual for a team in their position.

Papisse Cissé brought an excellent save from Ali Al-Habsi just after an hour, then hit the bar with another good effort two minutes later, before a glorious run from Hatem Ben Arfa brought the first moment of real alarm in the Wigan defence. Ben Arfa also went close from the subsequent corner, showing superb close control before putting a shot the wrong side of a post. Suddenly the second half was becoming as one-sided as the first, without Newcastle being able to find Wigan’s goal touch. Another dazzling piece of skill by Ben Arfa on the left led to a cross from which Cissé flashed a header against a post. With a little more luck, or perhaps accuracy, Newcastle could easily have had two or three goals and been back in the game, yet Pardew seemed to signal surrender when he perplexingly withdrew Ben Arfa for the last quarter of an hour and sent on Ryan Taylor in his place. The visiting goal threat duly subsided and the rest of the game passed without incident, Wigan practising their passing and only getting the one chance to go further ahead, when Coloccini was obliged to clear off the lien from Conor Sammon after Mike Williamson made a mistake to let the sub stitute in. Read More

Today will go down as a great day in the memory of Alex McLeish because he was able to add yet another scoreless draw to his record as manager, and it’s rather obvious that Alex McLeish loves nothing more in life than scoreless draws.

Me? I prefer a life without the constant threat of relegation hanging overhead, but it seems it’s a reality we all get to live with for at least another week.

There’s really not much to say about this game, as for the most part, it was rather boring and uneventful for the first 80 minutes. Why should Aston Villa do anything different when their life is on the line?

West Brom has basically nothing to play for? Well we better not try too hard then!

The real action didn’t begin until the final 15 minutes, with the moment that will stick in our memories being when Villa had the ball in the box with Ben Foster out of the net. Three Villa players had possession of the ball in that moment, but neither Gabriel Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey or Chris Herd (was it Chris Herd? I honestly don’t remember because I’m pretty sure my brain actually exploded at this point) decided it would be worth their time to kick the ball at the goal.

Now, this may seem unreasonable to you, but I can assure you there was a valid explanation for all of it.

You see, before this watershed moment, Villa had three great scoring chances in this match. Twice with Agbonlahor and one with N’Zogbia. In all three moments, Villa managed to kick the ball directly to Ben Foster. Foster didn’t even have to move.

Well, in the closing minutes, with Foster out of the goal, Villa had no idea where they were supposed to kick the ball.

“Do we kick it at the net?” they wondered, and unfortunately by the time they had figured it out, West Brom had decided to be terrible hosts and took the ball away.

Absolutely no manners at The Hawthorns.

Then a few minutes later Shay Given saved Villa’s lives for another week by making a diving save as his defense felt there was no reason to mark a player at the back post. A common theme throughout the entire match and entire season, really.

Shortly after that, the whistle blew and Alex McLeish had his scoreless draw.

We’re still three points clear, but now with only two games to go. Hopefully Chelsea and Tottenham take care of their business on Sunday and don’t go all Newcastle.

Seriously, what the fuck, Newcastle? Was the Champions League  just not that appealing to you?

Then there’s Roberto Martinez who I’m convinced has some kind of blood vendetta against Aston Villa. First he turned down the Villa job last summer, forcing Randy Lerner to hire McLeish, and now he’s doing everything in his damn power to send Villa down.

What the hell did we do to you other than offer you money, Rob?

Almost There: Wigan close to safety after emphatic victory against Newcastle United (source: breakingfootballnews)

Yesterday they faced an in-form Newcastle side who have found themselves in the running for Champions League football next year. Silently labouring away – it has only been recently that a sense of real expectation has begun to surround St James’ Park. And that pressure seemed to get the better of them – that and a rampant Wigan sprinting towards domestic safety.

Four first half goals from Moses (2), Maloney and Di Santo all but confirmed a vital three points for the home side. The latter a thirty-yard lob from the ever-inconsistent Argentinean striker. Di Santo’s season – the perfect representation of Wigan’s campaign. The second half saw very little action, Wigan continued to dominate and Newcastle failed to find a solution.

A roar of cheers at the final whistle suggested Wigan fans now expect Premier League football next season. No doubt a giant leap towards safety, but Martinez will not be celebrating anything just yet. They travel to Blackburn in their next game for what will be a huge six pointer in the battle for league survival. Humbling Newcastle fans showed appreciation for their team’s efforts, despite a dismal display. They will no doubt be happy with the season regardless of what happens in their last three games. Champions League football maybe a leap too far, but playing in the Europa League will offer a more realistic platform for progress.

M.O.M: Victor Moses – He scored the first two goals and looked a real threat against a below average Newcastle team. His continued form will no doubt raise questions of a summer transfer, especially if Wigan fail to secure top flight football next season.

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Roberto Martínez warned his players that the job was not done after the wins over Manchester United and Arsenal seemed to ease their relegation fears and defeat at Fulham, coupled with all their rivals picking up points since, has proved him right. Martí nez may have to do without Franco Di Santo but Hugo Rodallega could return in his place. Newcastle have a few injury concerns and the knowledge that victory will keep them in fourth place ahead of what is already looking like a pivotal midweek trip to Stamford Bridge. Paul Chronnell

Venue DW Stadium, Saturday 3pm

Tickets £25-27 (0871 66 33 552)

Last season Wigan 0 Newcastle 1

Referee Mike Dean

This season’s matches 27 Y101, R3, 3.85 cards per game

Odds Wigan 9-5 Newcastle 8-5 Draw 9-2

Wigan

Subs from Kirkland, Pollitt, Gohouri, Thomas, Crusat, Watson, Maloney, Diamé, López, Sammon, Jones, Rodallega, McManaman

Doubtful Crusat (calf), Di Santo (calf), Rodallega (knee)

Injured Stam (hamstring, 7 May)

Suspended None

Form guide LWWLWW

Disciplinary record Y64 R3

Leading scorers Di Santo, Gómez 5

Newcastle

Subs from Elliot, Harper, R Taylor, Abeid, Ferguson, Tavernier, Perch, Guthrie, Gosling, Shola Ameobi, Best

Doubtful Cabaye (ankle), Guthrie (calf)

Injured Marveaux (groin, 6 May), Obertan (ankle, 6 May), Sammy Ameobi (knee, Aug), Lovenkrands (thigh, Aug), S Taylor (achilles, Aug), Vuckic (knee, Aug)

Suspended None

Form guide WWWWWW

Disciplinary record Y58 R2

Leading scorer Ba 16

Match pointers

• Papiss Cissé has equalled Micky Quinn’s record for most goals scored (11) in his first 10 Premier League games – set by Quinn for Coventry City in the 1992-93 season

• No side has won fewer home games (three) than Wigan this season

• A win for Newcastle would see them equal the Premier League record for most consecutive victories (seven)

• Wigan have conceded just two goals from five home league games with Newcastle

• Newcastle need one more clean sheet to equal their best in a Premier League season (15) Read More

"Welcome to Vietnam" - Wigan, England

This match was, bar none, the worst weather I have encountered in all my football matches that I have been to. It was raining really hard, and the wind was making it swirl around the air, and was hitting everyone no matter where you were sitting.

Wigan ended up losing, though the scoreline was a bit harsh on them, and flattered Sunderland. I would go back to a game there–the stadium is new and nice, the people are great, and the tickets are cheap. All in all, very enjoyable.

Fulham had the first chance of the game in under 10 minutes, a beautifully worked free kick between Danny Murphy and Damien Duff but the execution of the shot by Duff was poor.

The first goal came 12 minutes into the second half from Wigan defender Emmerson Boyce, he struck a wicked shot from outside the area which scorched its way through the air into the bottom corner. It was Boyce’ first goal in 2 years.

The response from Fulham was perfect, they equalized a minute late through January signing Pogrebniak, he drove his shot low and hard into the bottom corner, his 6th goal for Fulham.

It almost got worse for Wigan 5 minutes later. Former Liverpool man John Arne Riise drove a low cross into the six yard box, Pogrebniak connected with it and the ball came crashing down off the underside of the cross-bar, at first glance it was unclear whether it had crossed. The replay showed that the whole of the ball had not crossed the line, good decision from the assistant.

Pogrebniak hit the woodwork again as the game reached the closing stages. A great move between Dempsey and Pogrebniak resulted in Dempsey’s shot being spilt by Al Habsi, Pogrebniak was first to the ball, his contact with it wasn’t the cleanest and the ball struck the post.

Just when it looked as if Wigan were going to nick a point Fulham found the winner in the 89th minute. Riise delivered a free kick from the flank, Senderos climbed highest and headed the ball into the back of the net.

Fulham deserved the 3 points over the course of the game, however Wigan have every chance of staying up if they can reproduce the form of the last few weeks over the last 3 games of the season.

Can Q.P.R. Stay Up?

Wolverhampton Wanderers became the first club to be officially relegated from the Barclays Premier League this season. Sunday afternoon’s home defeat at the hands of title challengers Manchester City confirmed Wolves’ fate but, with five teams currently battling it out to avoid filling the last two relegation places, this year’s struggle to survive looks like going right down to the wire. Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan, Q.P.R. and Aston Villa all face the prospect of playing Championship football next season, so which of these teams are most likely to be doing just that.

Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers currently occupy 19^th position in the Premier League table. With 31 points from 35 games and just eight victories all season, Rovers’ year has hardly been one to shout about. The takeover of the club by Venkys last season and their immediate decision to replace, then boss, Sam Allardyce with Steve Kean, brought consternation to the Ewood Park faithful and, as results have  declined, the anger level has steadily risen.

Rarely out of the bottom three all season and bottom of the table at Christmas, Rovers put together a decent run of results garnering 18 points from the next 36 on offer, including a 2-3 victory at Old Trafford, to give themselves hope of survival and give, manager, Steve Kean respite from the very loud and almost ubiquitous, dissenting voices . However, a sequence of just one win in their last eight games has left them three points from safety with just three games remaining.

Rovers face a trip to Tottenham, a home match with Wigan and then a visit to Stamford Bridge on the final day; all tough fixtures. Looking at the table and the fixtures left for the teams involved I would say that 38 or 39 points will be the minimum required to stay up, if not the magic 40, and with their away form having been so poor this term, just two away wins all season, I can’t see Rovers picking up enough points.

Undoubtedly this Blackburn team has some very talented players, Pederson, Hoilett, N’Zonzi and Yakubu, amongst others, but I would be very surprised if, even with these players, they manage to avoid the drop. If they don’t, Rovers face losing all of the above for a fraction of their true values in the summer.

Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers season never really got going in 2011/12. After an excellent campaign last season for the most part, Wanderers finished the year on the slide, seemingly unable to recover from the disappointment of being taken apart by Stoke City in the F.A. Cup semi-final. The departures of Daniel Sturridge; back to Chelsea, and Johan Elmander; to Galatasaray, at the end of last season, left Owen Coyle’s team short on goal-scorers and the signing of David N’Gog from Liverpool has done little, so far, to change things. A long term injury to midfielder Stuart Holden has also affected Wanderers this season, although the loan signing of Ryo Miyaichi has provided added impetus in the attacking third.

Having been in the bottom three for a large chunk of the season and with the worst home record in the Premier League, excepting Wolves, Wanderers at one point looked a sure fire bet to go down. However, the tragic collapse of Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba, during their F.A. Cup quarter-final with Tottenham, and his miraculous survival and recovery, seems to have had a galvanising effect on the players and, in recent weeks, results have improved.

Three wins and a draw in the seven games since Muamba collapsed, including vital victories over Blackburn and Aston Villa, have left Bolton just a point from safety as things stand and, with games in hand over the teams above them, they now stand a good chance of survival. Away trips to Sunderland and Stoke sandwich home fixtures against West Brom. and Spurs, for Bolton and, whilst no games are easy, three of those four teams have nothing left to play for this season, with Tottenham’s recent form very poor. I fancy Bolton to take at least five points, if not six or seven, from their remaining four games and I reckon that that will be enough to keep them up.

Wigan Athletic

Having watched a lot of Wigan this season, I am fully aware that their main problem in 2011/12 has been scoring goals. On many occasions they have torn teams apart, creating chances a plenty but failing to convert those opportunities into the hard, Premier League currency of goals. When Charles N’Zogbia left the DW at the end of the last campaign, many thought that the writing would be on the wall for the Latics this time around, given the energy and dynamism that he brought to their attacking play.

Granted, they have missed N’Zogbia’s goal-scoring touch, something which Victor Moses, whilst excellent at creating things and running at defences, hasn’t quite incorporated into his game. If you add Rodallega’s injuries and lack of form up-front, to the loss of N’Zogbia and throw in some individual mistakes at the back, which have cost them dearly at times , then you have the recipe for Wigan’s lowly league position.

Mainstays of the bottom three for the lion’s share of the season, the Latics looked nailed-on to go down this term, however, Wigan are no strangers to being in this position, having been involved in the relegation scrap on many occasions. A haul of eight points from their final four games at the end of the last campaign was enough to retain their Premier League status and they’re in the midst of trying the Houdini act again now.

Just two defeats in their last seven games, including victories at Anfield and the Emirates, as well as a home triumph over Manchester United, have enabled Roberto Martinez’s side to pull three points clear of the drop-zone with three games left. Home games against Newcastle United and Wolves envelop a six pointer against Blackburn and, in their current vein of form, I can see Wigan claiming at least five points, which should be enough to keep them safe.

Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers are, in a sense, a bit of an unknown quantity in the equation for Premier League survival. In this, their first season in the top flight since their relegation at the end of the 1995/96 season, they  have had a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Having dazzled in their Championship winning season and with the cash injection provided by Tony Fernandes’s takeover at Loftus Road, many predicted that Rangers would fare the best out of the newly promoted team and they started the season relatively well. This didn’t last though and by the time Christmas was upon us, with Norwich and Swansea sitting relatively comfortably in mid-table, Rangers were sliding towards the bottom three.

Fernandes acted swiftly and ruthlessly, sacking then boss Neil Warnock, replacing him with Mark “Sparky” Hughes and, handing the new boss the keys to the cash register, new signings arrived by the bucketful. That done, most observers believed that with the spending power and the change of management, Q.P.R. would push on in the second-half of the campaign and that Premier League survival would be a formality. However, as so often in football, new managers and new players take time to settle. It is very difficult to bring in five or six new faces to the first team squad, be they from England or abroad, and expect them to hit the ground running.

A period of disappointing results and disciplinary problems followed for the team and its new boss and, for a time, their Premier League status was in jeopardy. However a miraculous turnaround in the last 15 minutes of a home match against Liverpool, in which they were trailing 0-2, signalled the beginning of fight towards the light and, since then, Rangers’ form has given them a great chance of beating the drop.

Since and including that remarkable turnaround, Hughes’s team have won all four of their home matches, including that win over Liverpool and victories against Arsenal and Tottenham, however, the flip side is that they have lost all of their away games during that time. With trips to Stamford Bridge and the Etihad still to come, Rangers only have one more home fixture this season, against Stoke. Even if they beat Stoke, which I think they will, they’re going to have to pick up at least a point from these other two fixtures if they want to survive, unfortunately for Hughes, Fernandes and co. that might just be a bridge too far.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa is not a team that you would associate being involved in the relegation dogfight. Since being founder members of the English football league in 1888, the club has spent one hundred of its years in the top flight of English football and has not been relegated since 1987; the only club to have spent longer amongst the elite is Everton (108). A founding member of the Premier League, Villa is one of a group of only seven clubs that have competed in it for all twenty seasons, and one of only four English Clubs to have ever lifted the European Cup/Champions’ League.

When Doug Ellis sold his controlling interest in the club to American Randy Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns, in 2006, having just appointed Martin O’Neill as manager, things looked rosy for the Holte End faithful. There followed a period of consistent success for Aston Villa, with O’Neill guiding them first to 11^th and then to three sixth place finishes in a row. However things turned sour with O’Neill left frustrated at Villa’s selling policy and things came to a head when he walked out of the club on the eve of the 2010/11 season. Gerrard Houllier replaced O’Neill, however, he and Gary McCallister could only steer the team to ninth last term.

Houllier was replaced by Alex McCleish, the former Birmingham City manager, who had taken Villa’s city neighbours down into the Championship in 2011, despite winning the Carling Cup. Many Villa fans were against the appointment from the start, not just because of the Scot’s connection to their fiercest rivals, but also because of his perceived negative tactics and unimaginative style of play. Having to cope with the loss of two of Villa’s best attacking players of last season, Downing and Young, McCleish faced a tough task but the signings of N’Zogbia from Wigan and Bent from Sunderland, should have gone at least most of the way to replacing the lost energy and firepower.

Unfortunately for Villa fans and McCleish, things have not gone according to plan and the lack of goals and creativity in this Villa side have gone a long way to proving those who doubted the Scot’s credentials correct. Villa have scored just 36 goals in 35 games, the third lowest in the Premier League after Wolves and Stoke, managing only seven wins in the entire campaign to date. 2012 has seen McCleish’s side pick up just 13 points from a possible 48, winning just once in their last 14 Premier League outings, if that ain’t relegation form, I don’t know what is.

Aston Villa currently sit on 36 points, three points above the trapdoor, with three games remaining; away at West Brom next, followed by a visit from Tottenham and a trip to Carrow Road on the final day. With things going down to the wire, the Derby against Roy Hodgson’s side this weekend takes on massive significance.

I reckon Villa are going to need at least two, if not three points from their remaining matches and, should they lose to their high flying neighbours, who are looking to cement a top-half finish in the Premier League for the first time ever and would be more than happy to do that at the expense of their more illustrious rivals, then the task becomes all the more difficult. One thing is certain though, if they can’t find a win, or at least two draws from their last three fixtures, the Villains could be in the Championship next season, for the first time since the inauguration of the Barclays Premier League.

So there they are, the five teams who can still go down this season. As you can probably tell from the article, I think that Blackburn will almost certainly go down, with the question remaining about who the third casualty will be. For me, it is between Q.P.R. and Villa; Villa have by far the worst current form out of all of the five but they may, just, be able to do enough to hang on in the face of Q.P.R.s awful away form. This weekend’s fixtures are all important for both teams, if Rangers can get a point at the Bridge and Villa fail to beat Albion, then the noose tightens around McCleish’s neck, however, it could easily go the other way and that, is the beauty of football!

Prepared:But are Villa Prepared to Go Down?

Please feel free to comment with your opinions as this is a hot topic, I’d be very interested to hear what you have to say.

Q.P.R. Image by Urbanmkr. Villa Image by Dan Farrimond.

"Silhouette" - Wigan, England

Here is the second set of images from Wigan, in England. Wigan is a small town outside of Manchester, and not many tourists go there. It’s a bit run down in spots, and it’s not incredibly exciting, but I did meet the nicest people in Wigan that I ever have in England. I would definitely go back…if there were more to do. Ultimately, we went for the football, and I’ll post some images from the match tomorrow.

"Fashion" - Wigan, England

Our last trip to England was my first to Wigan. Wigan is a small town outside of Manchester, and I can’t really think of any good reason one would end up there. Evidently, not many tourists do: this was the only time in all my trips to the UK I’ve met people that had trouble understanding my American accent. Likewise, I had trouble understanding some of the locals. So what did we go to Wigan for? Well, the football, naturally! I will post some photos from the match we saw in Wigan later this week.

Wigan was a very interesting place, though I’m not sure I’d go back. It’s a bit out of the way. The people were some of the nicest I’ve met in my time in England, however; everyone is incredibly helpful and very friendly. As most of my experiences are in and around London, it was a big change.

You have to say United are still in the driving seat and a draw at City will probably be enough to keep hold of the trophy; City have the harder run in and Newcastle away could definitely be a stumbling block. Next week’s game at Eastlands in massive – so it’ll probably be a huge anti-climax!

Down the bottom Wolves are gone; something of a formality, and a lot of the teams down there are going through a bit of a purple patch; Blackburn and QPR took maximum points at the weekend; Bolton managed a draw and have a couple of games in hand. Meanwhile in recent weeks Wigan have been slicing the heads of the top four.

For me Blackburn will go. They’ve only got one win in 6 and with Tottenham and Chelsea still to play (never mind a resurgent Wigan) they’re going to struggle to pick up points. Bolton have winnable games against Stoke and Villa, and could also beat Sunderland as they seem to have finished their season early. Wigan still have Blackburn to play and, assuming they beat Wolves, a win there could seal their top flight status; that game is massive! QPR have Chelsea and Stoke at home, where form is good and points will be vital, before they finish away at City. Any 2 from those 3 to fill the final place as Villa have a game in hand and 3 winnable games against Norwich, Bolton and West Brom.

Key Games: City v Utd (Monday 30th) is obvious but the race for 4th is very much on and Chelsea still have vital games as they host Newcastle, and also a massive impact on the bottom as they still have QPR and Blackburn to play. Tottenham results will also have huge implications, as they face Blackburn, Bolton and Villa. Blackburn v Wigan and Wigan v Wolves in the final week of the season could seal the final places.

• We have to be ambitious, Senderos adds
• Wigan remain in 17th with three games to go

Philippe Senderos believes Fulham may well equal their record seventh-place finish, achieved in the 2008–09 season, when Roy Hodgson led the team up the table. They now sit ninth after a late victory against in-form Wigan and have four games remaining.

Senderos’s header secured the three points and the defender reckons the club can equal their best-ever finish. “We have to be ambitious,” the Swiss said. “We have a great quality in the team and our home form has been brilliant this season.

“If we continue like this and playing well and getting goals like our forwards have been doing, then I think we have got a chance [of finishing seventh]. It is up to us now to see where we are going to finish. We have very important games until the end of the season and we are an ambitious team. We have very good players and hopefully we can look forward to the top rather than looking backwards.”

While Fulham eventually secured victory, they had fallen behind to a superb goal from Emmerson Boyce. Pavel Pogrebnyak equalised just over 60 seconds later and then saw a 63rd-minute e ffort hit the underside of the bar and bounce towards the line. The referee waved play on having ruled the ball was not fully over.

“I think we were on top in the game and it was a bit unfortunate to concede,” Senderos added. “We knew we were going to score, though, so it was really good we reacted so quick and we got the winning goal at the end. I think our home form has been brilliant and we have done very good over the last few weeks, but we have to give credit to Wigan. They have beaten big teams in the last few weeks and I thought we did brilliantly.

“We had a couple of breaks on the counter attack but couldn’t score and we looked dangerous from a few set pieces. Thank God I put my head in the right place at the right time. I thought it was coming and it was good to get the goal. It has been a while since I have scored so I was really happy.”

The result leaves Wigan in 17th place and just three points off the relegation zone with three matches remainin g, but the manager Roberto Martínez is positive his side will respond at home to Newcastle next weekend. “We have not got enough points to achieve our aim and I don’t think we can afford to look elsewhere,” he said. “All the teams, as you know, are going to fight for their lives. We will do the same. We will concentrate on ourselves and do everything we can to get more than 34 points.

“That is a fantastic return knowing where we were two months ago, but the reality is that it is not going to be enough at this present time. We are just concentrating on getting as many as we can from the remaining nine points.

“There are two games at home – one against Newcastle and one against Wolves – and Blackburn away, so you can imagine they are very competitive fixtures.” Read More

Craven Cottage

A cruel 89th minute winner by Fulham’s giant defender Phillipe Senderos and a win for QPR against Spurs meant that Wigan slipped to fourth from bottom of the league table with three games left to play.

Wigan retained the same line up that had beaten Arsenal at the Emirates with a fit Shaun Maloney only on the bench. The Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak returned to the Fulham starting line up after an injury lay off.

In fairness to both teams it was a relatively uneventful first half until Jordi Gomez brought a good save from Mark Schwarzer on the stroke of half time.

On 57 minutes Wigan took the lead from an unlikely source, Emmerson Boyce played a ball to Conor Sammon on the edge of the Fulham box and the ball ricocheted back to him off Senderos and from twenty yards out the Barbadian international hit a screamer past Schwarzer.

But Wigan’s lead only lasted one minute, as the prolific Pogrebnyak equalised when he lashed in a left foot shot from the edge of the box.

The 6ft 3in Russian striker has now scored six goals in only eight Premier League appearances and is becoming a colossus for an in-form Fulham outfit. He was instrumental in turning the game in the Cottagers favour as he posed a constant threat to the Wigan goal.

As the game moved into the final third Fulham pegged Wigan back into defence and created some great opportunities.

John Arne Riise crossed low and Pogrebnyak’s flick was deflected by Al Habsi onto the underside of the cross-bar before coming down on the goal line. The TV replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball had crossed the line, but Pogrebnyak bravely admitted afterwards that the ball had not crossed the line.

The Fulham onslaught was continuing and Pogrebnyak hit the post after Al Habsi had parried a cross shot by Clint Dempsey. A dangerous cross by Damian Duff hit Gary Caldwell and then Phillipe Senderos before finishing in the side netting.

Wigan seemed to have weathered the storm but in the last-minute from a Riisee free kick Senderos managed to get between Wigan’s central defenders to head powerfully past Al Habsi and grab the three points for Fulham.

To concede a goal so late in the game was cruel on Wigan, but it is fair to say that Fulham had been the better team over the 90 minutes.

In the last six games Wigan have produced some of their best ever Premier League performances, so we should not be too critical of this result after a difficult run of fixtures. However, Roberto Martinez now needs to regroup his players and reinstill the belief and confidence for the three massive games against Newcastle, Blackburn and Wolves which will decide Wigan’s destiny.

Philippe Senderos’s late header earned Fulham victory against Wigan in a match that had looked set to be overshadowed by the goalline technology debate.

The Switzerland international nodded home his first ever goal for the Cottagers in the 89th minute to ensure the home side followed up their win at the DW Stadium earlier in the season with another deserved victory.

Fulham dominated play but the match looked set to end level after Pavel Pogrebnyak saw what he felt was a legitimate goal ignored. Shortly after the Russia international had brought the Whites level following Emmerson Boyce’s strike, he saw a 63rd-minute effort hit the underside of the crossbar and bounce down towards the line.

The 28-year-old thought the ball had crossed the line and wheeled off in celebration, but the officials waved play on having ruled the ball was not fully over. Pogrebnyak also hit the post as Fulham continued to press and, with a draw looking likely, Senderos nodded home John Arne Riise’s free-kick.

The visitors were fortunate not to give away a penalty inside a minute. Clint Dempsey burst down the left flank and went down under pressure from Gary Caldwell but the referee, Lee Mason, waved away the home side’ penalty appeals.

Jordi Gómez fired over on a rare Wigan attack, before Damien Duff miscued with the goal gaping after a neat free-kick by Danny Murphy.

Fulham followed Wigan’s spell of dominance with Pogrebnyak and Senderos efforts, before Moussa Dembélé saw a fierce drive blocked. The Whites again came close moments later when neat interplay between Riise and Dempsey allowed the latter to fire the ball across the face of goal.

Nobody could connect with the squared ball but Wigan’s foothold on the game was clearly slipping. Their afternoon got worse in the 33rd minute when the striker Franco Di Santo limped off injured and was replaced by Conor Sammon.

Duff curled wide moments after the substitution and Dempsey forced a low save from Ali al-Habsi as Fulham looked for the opener. The away support continued to sing I’m a Believer despite Fulham’s dominance and they almost had something else to cheer about with the last chance of the openi ng 45 minutes, with Gómez forcing Schwarzer into a low save from an acute angle.

Six minutes after the restart Wigan fans were celebrating what they thought was the opening goal when Gómez controlled and struck yards from goal, although the effort only managed to ripple the side netting.

The visitors, though, had begun the second period brightly and Moses tested Schwarzer from long range, before Maynor Figueroa’s bouncing effort went well wide.

Fulham fans spent the start of the second half rounding on referee Mason, who was the subject of ironic cheers when he handed Caldwell the game’s first booking.

The official’s performance could not hide the hosts’ poor start, though, and Wigan took the lead in the 57th minute.

Boyce followed up his pass to Sammon and hit an exquisitely struck shot from 20 yards into the bottom left corner to give his side the lead.

However, it lasted just over 60 seconds as Fulham attacked immediately and Pogrebny ak hit a left-footed effort past Habsi from the edge of the area.

The Russia international thought he had then given Fulham the lead in the 63rd minute when he met Riise’s cross, striking an effort which hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down towards the line.

The 28-year-old again came close in the 77th minute when Dempsey forced Habsi to parry only for Pogrebnyak’s follow-up to bobble on to the post and out.

Fulham continued to press for a winner and Senderos almost scored when a Caldwell clearance hit him and flew into the side netting.

The goal would not have counted because of offside but the former Arsenal defender was not to be denied for long, heading home Riise’s free-kick in the 89th minute. Read More

The enigma that is Wigan Athletic have been elevated to the mainstream this week after successive victories over Manchester United and Arsenal lifted them clear of the relegation zone. But this is Wigan, it is always necessary to expect the unexpected. The Latics wer e beaten 2-0 at home by Fulham earlier this season and Roberto Martínez is acutely aware they are capable of losing again and ending up straight back in trouble, especially as the hosts should have their forwards Pavel Pogrebnyak and Andrew Johnson back. Paul Chronnell

Venue Craven Cottage, Saturday 3pm

Tickets Sold out

Last season Fulham 2 Wigan 0

Referee Lee Probert

This season’s matches 18 Y40, R3, 2.39 cards per game

Odds Fulham 5-6 Wigan 7-2 Draw 13-5

Fulham

Subs from Stockdale, Orlando Sá, Gevoc, Kasami, Senderos, BH Riise, Diarra, Etuhu, Frei, Briggs, Davies, Kacaniklic, Trotta

Doubtful Johnson (knee), Pogrebnyak (ankle)

Injured Kelly (wrist, 28 Apr), Sidwell (hernia, 6 May), Grygera (knee, Aug), Ruiz (foot, Aug)

Suspended None

Form guide DWWLLL

Disciplinary record Y50 R0

Leading scorer Dempsey 16

Wigan

Subs from Kirkland, Pollitt, Rodallega, Diamé, Gohouri, Stam, Jones, Watson, Gómez, Sammon, López, Thomas

Doubtful Maloney (knee), Rodallega (knee)

Injured Crusat (calf, 7 May)

Suspended None

Form guide WWLWWD

Disciplinary record Y62 R3

Leading scorers Di Santo, Gómez 5

Match pointers

• Fulham have lost just two of 18 home games against Wigan in all competitions

• Wigan have scored in their last eight Premier League away games, the longest current run in the top flight

• Cli nt Dempsey has six goals from nine league appearances versus Wigan, more than against any other team

• Only Manchester United and Newcastle (both 15) have taken more points from their past six games than Wigan (13)

• Pavel Pogrebnyak scored five times in his first three games but has failed to score in four subsequent appearances Read More