Wigan 1 Liverpool 0: Rodallega rocks Rafa as Reds blow chance to go fourth

10 March 2010 08:42
When Roberto Martinez claimed that fourth place is now Liverpool's to lose, it was meant to be a vote of confidence in his compatriot Rafael Benitez and not an invitation to do exactly that. [LNB]Liverpool duly lost at the DW Stadium and gave up valuable ground in the race for that final Champions League spot that Benitez has vowed to deliver. He is unlikely to make good on his promise if they keep playing like this.  [LNB] Hugo first: delighted Wigan marksman Rodallega turns to celebrate his 35th-minute goal which stunned Liverpool[LNB]Wigan's first-ever triumph over Liverpool will be difficult to take, even though it was by no means the first time the Anfield side's aspirations have been damaged by their neighbours in recent years. [LNB]It was sometimes difficult to know which team was battling for a place in Europe's elite competition and which was fighting to stay in the Premier League, such was Wigan's confidence on their newly-laid pitch and Liverpool's clumsy, stumbling performance. [LNB]It was summed up best by the awful lapse of concentration by Dirk Kuyt that gifted possession to Wigan for Hugo Rodallega to score the 35th-minute winner, and some astonishingly bad finishing by Fernando Torres. [LNB] I don't believe it: Liverpool striker Fernando Torres cuts a dejected figure as he lies on the ground after missing another opportunity[LNB]The Spaniard endured arguably his most frustrating game in a Liverpool shirt. One volley in the second half went out for a throw-in on the other side of the pitch, while another from six yards when Kuyt's knockdown gave him a golden chance to equalise was skewed wide. By the end, Torres was reduced to sniping bitterly at Gary Caldwell, having earned a yellow card for chasing Emmerson Boyce halfway down the pitch and launching into the Wigan defender in frustration. [LNB]He was not the only one. Emiliano Insua, Lucas Leiva, Yossi Benayoun and Steven Gerrard also found their way into Andre Marriner's book for poor challenges, compared to just one booking for Wigan. [LNB]Rattled: Rafa Benitez[LNB]As the clock ticked over the 90-minute mark and Benitez's side ran out of time and ideas to break down their opponents, we were treated to the rare sight of Gerrard sending up a Hail Mary into the Wigan box out of pure desperation. This was definitely not the Liverpool way. [LNB]Credit must also go to a Wigan side who have beaten Chelsea on this ground earlier in the season. They came into the game with just one win in 13 attempts and a record for causing Liverpool problems at important points of the season. [LNB]They may only have taken two points off Liverpool in nine previous attempts, but how costly they proved to be. Titus Bramble's equaliser at Anfield put paid to Liverpool's title hopes in 2008, and Mido's penalty here 12 months later had an equally damaging effect on Benitez's hopes of landing his first Premier League crown. [LNB]On Monday night they conspired to dent his hopes of a crucial fourth place with a magnificent team performance in which Mohamed Diame and Charles N'Zogbia were simply outstanding. They responded to Torres hitting the outside of a post from a tight angle early on by taking the game to Liverpool, with Marcelo Moreno inches away from his first goal for Wigan as he stretched to reach a searching cross from N'Zogbia. [LNB]Gerrard wasted his side's best chance of the first half, scooping the ball wide at the second attempt with Chris Kirkland on the floor and Wigan defenders desperately trying to defend their line after his first effort had been blocked by Paul Scharner's tackle. And Liverpool paid the price when Wigan took advantage of Kuyt's loss of concentration to go ahead. [LNB]MATCH FACTS WIGAN (4-5-1): Kirkland 6; Boyce 7, Caldwell 6, Bramble 6, Figueroa 7; N'Zogbia 8, McCarthy 6, Scharner 7, Diame 7 (Thomas 82min), Rodallega 7 (Scotland 87); Moreno 5 (Moses 67, 6).Booked: Bramble.LIVERPOOL (4-4-1-1): Reina 6; Mascherano 7, Carragher 6, Kyrgiakos6, Insua 5; Maxi 6, Lucas 6 (Johnson 55,6), Gerrard 6, Benayoun 5 (Aquilani69); Kuyt 5 (Babel 82); Torres 5.Booked: Lucas, Krygiakos, Insua,Torres, Gerrard.Man of the match: Charles N'Zogbia.Referee: Andre Marriner.[LNB]The Dutchman's awful pass went straight to Boyce wide on the Wiganright and he seized on the opportunity to float a pin-point cross intothe box. It picked out the unmarked Rodallega who met it first time,steering the ball past Pepe Reina from six yards out for his eighthgoal of the season.[LNB]As Torres continued to produce a string of uncharacteristic misses in the second half, Wigan could easily have had scored a second. [LNB]Reina was grateful that Sotirios Kyrgiakos was standing underneath his own bar to head to safety when the goalkeeper's clearance rebounded off Moreno and looped back towards goal. [LNB]And when the keeper got a touch to deny N'Zogbia as he raced clear on goal, he was again relieved to see Scharner's follow-up effort blocked by Glen Johnson at the far post when another goal looked a certainty. [LNB]In the end, it did not matter. [LNB]Not so long ago, Martinez stood up for Benitez, accusing Si r Alex Ferguson, Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce of ganging up to 'throw sticks' at his compatriot. None of it will have hurt the Liverpool boss as badly as what happened last night. [LNB] Hugo boss: Rodallega capitalised on woeful defending to score Wigan's winner [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] Wigan boss Martinez backs Frenchman N'Zogbia to be England World Cup heroMartinez tells Benitez relegation scrap is as tough as battle for the top fourWigan 1 Liverpool 0: How all the action unfoldedWIGAN ATHLETIC FC

Source: Daily_Mail