Wigan 0 - 2 Portsmouth

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Saturday Oct 20 2007 03:00

In-form Benjani Mwaruwari hit his seventh goal of the season and his fifth in three games to keep Portsmouth flying high with their fourth Premier League win on the trot.

The striker, who Wigan tried to sign on loan before his move to Pompey last year, struck after 81 minutes scoring from inside the six-yard box after Chris Kirkland hesitated in dealing with the cross from Sulley Muntari.

And Portsmouth wrapped it up with a spectacular goal from Glen Johnson four minutes later as the Wigan defence fatally backed off.

It was total disaster for the Latics - their fourth defeat in a row - and the pressure really is on Chris Hutchings to get results after two months without a win.

The Latics had Denny Landzaat back and he also took over the captaincy from the injured Mario Melchiot. Antonio Valencia was also missing but Hutchings welcomed back striker Antoine Sibierski.

Wigan were inches away from a dream start as Pompey were saved by the woodwork, Michael Brown swung in the free-kick from the right, it was nodded back inside by Andreas Granqvist and Paul Scharner's header came back off the post.

Despite some neat play, Pompey were restricted to long-range shots. Papa Bouba Diop and Johnson both missed the target, but Niko Kranjcar forced Chris Kirkland to his knees to make the save.

Latics hit back when a Scharner flick-on sent Marcus Bent racing in on goal but he hammered the shot into the side netting. And the ex-Charlton striker was unlucky to find himself on the receiving end of a marginal offside decision when he again went clear.

There was more anxiety for Portsmouth when Muntari was adjudged to have fouled Sibierski just outside the box, but Jason Koumas hit the free-kick well over the bar.Sean Davis felt he should have had a penalty when he went down in the Wigan area and there was a blow for Latics when Sibierski had to be replaced by Julius Aghahowa.

The Nigerian instantly had a couple of minutes to remember - collecting a booking within seconds and then needing treatment for a bang on the head.Sol Campbell failed to make a chance count when he put a header wide and Muntari clipped the post with a terrific free-kick from long range.

But Portsmouth struck twice in four minutes to kill Wigan off with those strikes from Benjani and Johnson sending their army of supporters wild and Latics' fans heading for the exits.

Live Commentary

  • 90
    The whistle goes, and a poor performance from Wigan is, in the end, punished by two late goals from Portsmouth.
  • 90
    The away fans are in full swing now, and everyone is just waiting for that final whistle to go.
  • 90
    There will be 3 minutes of stoppage time as Wigan fans leave the JJB in drones.
  • 88
    Bramble is booked for a foul on Glenn Johnson.
  • 86
    Glen Johnson scores from 20 yards with a good strike after the Wigan defence, for some reason, leaving the Pompey player, a wide space in between defenders to shot in.
  • 81
    Benjani Mwaruwari scores! Sulley Muntari supplied the ball into the Wigan box, and Benjani stuck the ball with his right foot from 12 yards out to give Pompey the lead.
  • 80
    Brown cant get to the ball and Wigan lose possession of the ball after decent work from Julius Aghahowa and Jason Koumas.
  • 78
    A Pompey free-kick is put in, and Mendes gets on the end of it, but he cant fully control it and the ball goes safely wide.
  • 77
    Miguel Pedro Mendes comes on to replace Sean Davis.
  • 76
    The game has certainly risen its tempo, and both teams are showing a big willingness to go forward, but its a lack of that final killer ball that is causing both teams to fault.
  • 72
    Sulley Muntari is booked for a foul on Andreas Granqvist.
  • 71
    Wigan again display good play in the midfield, but once again they cant produce the final ball as Koumas chooses the wrong option and Pompey can clear the danger.
  • 68
    Julius Aghahowa tries to supply Marcus Bent, but he is offside, but that was good play from Wigan beforehand, and the crowd are starting to get invovled.
  • 66
    Wigan look dangerous as they go forward, and Jason Koumas looks to put in a good cross, but it is deflected out for a corner.
  • 63
    Sulley Muntari has a great effort from a free-kick, and it has hit the post! Both sides have now hit the woodwork in this game.
  • 59
    Sean Davis is booked for bringing down Kevin Kilbane.
  • 57
    Benjani Mwaruwari cracks a good shot on goal, but it takes two deflections before going off for a Pompey corner.
  • 56
    Aghahowa is back on and seems fine as Wigan avoid a scare early on there.
  • 54
    Julius Aghahowa is down injured at the moment with what appears to be a facial injury, and what an opening minute for the substitute!
  • 53
    Julius Aghahowa is booked for a foul on Sol Campbell.
  • 52
    Julius Aghahowa replaces Antoine Sibierski, who missed the final minute of the first half while nursing his shoulder, it seems the problem hasn't gone away.
  • 51
    Wigan are just ahead in the opening five minutes, and the home fans will be hoping for more the same.
  • 48
    Portsmouth were lucky there, a free-kick was put in from Wigan, and the defence let the ball bounce in the box, but luckily for Pompey, the ball found its way to James.
  • 47
    Sylvain Distin is fouled and Pompey are awarded a free-kick, and the fans are in good voice after the break.
  • 45
    The second half gets underway, and both sets of fans and no doubt players, will be hoping for a much improved performance.
  • 45
    The whistle goes, and both sides only have a couple of chances to really shout about going into the break, and something may have to be done tatically to change the direction of this game.
  • 45
    Jason Koumas has the chance to shoot from a free-kick on the edge of the Pompey box, but he hits it over the bar.
  • 44
    The game has got a bit scrappy here as Niko Kranjcar and Paul Scharner have a bit of a tussle on the ball.
  • 41
    Marcus Bent and Antoine Sibierski are both offside and are rightly pulled up for it as Wigan were going forward, but the home crowd seemed to disagree.
  • 40
    Unless there is a moment of magic here at the JJB, it seems the game will go into the break 0-0.
  • 38
    Sol Campbell is booked for pulling down Antoine Sibierski.
  • 37
    Bent has a good effort on goal, but it hits the side-netting.
  • 34
    Sulley Muntari goes down in the box and appeals for a penalty, but that would have been very soft is that would have been given.
  • 31
    The crowd have now gone very quiet, and who can blame them, both teams here seem to be stuck in a creative rut.
  • 28
    Nearing the half hour mark, and after a promising start, not much has materalised in terms of chances on goal.
  • 26
    Kevin Kilbane whips in a Wigan corner and Antoine Sibierski heads over, perhaps he should have done better there.
  • 25
    Antoine Sibierski is caught offside, from the resulting free-kick, the ball is played upfield and Pompey nearly find a way through, but Bramble uses his strength well to avoid any danger from on-setting forwards.
  • 22
    Kirkland makes a comfortable save after Niko Kranjcar shoots from distance, but despite the lack of chances, the crowd are still trying to spur their teams on.
  • 19
    The game has gone into a bit of a lull at the moment as Papa Bouba Diop mis-controlls the ball and it rolls out for a throw-in.
  • 16
    Jason Koumas has started well and he seems to be in the middle of alot of Wigan's play so far.
  • 13
    Jason Koumas shows good play and beats a couple of men, but he is unable to supply a good ball through to his strikers.
  • 10
    Special mention has to go to David James, who is making his 141st consecutive Premier League appearance today, and he will hope to spur his team to a win as Benjani fires high over the bar.
  • 7
    It's been a good start to this game for both sides, as Wigan and Pompey show good inititive with the ball.
  • 4
    The ball finds its way to Benjani who goes to round Kirkland, but he is flagged offside before he can do so, but Pompey found good space early on there and that will cause some worry for Wigan.
  • 2
    The ball falls to Paul Scharner in the box and he heads the ball against the post! And that's a good start for Wigan.
  • 0
    Peter Walton is the referee for the game at the JJB today, and he gets the game underway as Wigan look to avoid a fourth successive league defeat.
  • 0
    Sol Campbell starts despite not training since wednesday and Hermann Hreidarsson also starts after playing midweek as Pompey start with: James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Utaka, Davis, Diop, Kranjcar, Muntari, Mwaruwari
  • 0
    Antoine Sibierski returns from injury and starts, however, Melchiot and Koumas are out as Wigan kick-off with: Kirkland, Boyce, Granqvist, Bramble, Kilbane, Scharner, Brown, Landzaat, Koumas, Sibierski, Bent

Statistics

Wigan
Shots on target 0
Shots off target 6
Shots off bar/post 1
Fouls 9
Offsides 4
Corners 3

Portsmouth
Shots on target 9
Shots off target 7
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 9
Offsides 1
Corners 2

See Live Commentary