Wigan 2 Birmingham City 3- Larssons double turns the tide
06 Dec 2009 - 01:21:43
In the half-time hush of the Birmingham dressing room, manager Alex McLeish carefully chose the words that produced an impressive response.
It brought a heightened level of effort and helped them to move a couple of steps up the Premier League.
Their fiery commitment after going a goal down was in direct contrast to Wigan, whom manager Roberto Martinez accused of lacking character and desire.
Brum rush: Wigan's goal keeper Chris Kirkland (left) is beaten as Birmingham's Christian Benitez 'Chucho'
Charles N'Zogbia's memorable opening goal for Wigan was overtaken byBirmingham in a dominant second half, with Sebastian Larsson scoringtwice from direct free-kicks and Christian Benitez tucking away aneatly-taken goal between them.
Wigan's late strike by Jordi Gomez was of extremely limited consolation.
There were shades of last month's 9-1 defeat at Tottenham as Wiganslumped in the second half. But there was no excuse in the loss ofgoalkeeper Chris Kirkland with the recurrence of an old back injury inthe 24th minute.
His replacement, Mike Pollitt, drew his share of applause, thoughthat died as Larsson's free-kicks in the 61st and 72nd minutes eludedhim and everyone else in the Wigan defence.
Stunned: Joe Hart is rooted to the spot after Charles N'Zogbia's opener
'It is a question of character,' said Martinez. 'We just accepted what was going on. We need to improve the squad.'
McLeish said: 'We had to get closer to them, stop their passing andtheir driving runs. Some of our players took the game by the scruff ofthe neck and we began to look impregnable. We have been trying to get atough mentality into the players and we are getting a settled side witha good understanding.'
Hugo going close: Hugo Rodallega attempts to reply for Wigan
Birmingham are beginning to shape up as though they truly belong inthe Premier League and in a powerful midfield containing Lee Bowyer,Barry Ferguson, Larsson and James McFadden they have men of provenquality.
It is fair to say that Wigan were the better side in the first halfand deserved N'Zogbia's 33rd-minute strike when Jason Scotland cleverlyheld the ball up for him. But once they had turned round there was onlyone team ever likely to win.
A miserable day was not helped by the behaviour of Hugo Rodallega,who drew blood when he appeared to elbow Birmingham defender RogerJohnson in the face early in the match.
Wigan (4-2-3-1): Kirkland(Pollitt 24min); Melchiot, Bramble, Boyce (Gomez 76), Figueroa; Diame(Sinclair 69), Thomas; N'Zogbia, Scharner, Rodellega; Scotland. Subs (not used): Amaya, Koumas, Kapo, McCarthy. Booked: Rodallega, Thomas.
Birmingham (4-4-2): Hart; Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell; Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, McFadden; Benitez, Jerome (Fahey 81). Subs (not used): Maik Taylor, McSheffrey, Queudrue, O'Shea, Carsley, Vignal.
Referee: L Probert (Wiltshire).
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