- Benjani (81), Johnson (86)
- Date:2007-10-20
- Kick-off:15:00
- Venue:The JJB Stadium
- Attendance:17695
- Referee:Walton, P
Live Commentary
90mins
The whistle goes, and a poor performance from Wigan is, in the end, punished by two late goals from Portsmouth.
90mins
There will be 3 minutes of stoppage time as Wigan fans leave the JJB in drones.
88mins
Bramble is booked for a foul on Glenn Johnson.
86mins
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.
81mins
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.
80mins
Brown cant get to the ball and Wigan lose possession of the ball after decent work from Julius Aghahowa and Jason Koumas.
78mins
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.
77mins
Miguel Pedro Mendes comes on to replace Sean Davis.
76mins
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.
72mins
Sulley Muntari is booked for a foul on Andreas Granqvist.
71mins
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.
68mins
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.
66mins
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.
63mins
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.
59mins
Sean Davis is booked for bringing down Kevin Kilbane.
57mins
Benjani Mwaruwari cracks a good shot on goal, but it takes two deflections before going off for a Pompey corner.
56mins
Aghahowa is back on and seems fine as Wigan avoid a scare early on there.
54mins
Julius Aghahowa is down injured at the moment with what appears to be a facial injury, and what an opening minute for the substitute!
53mins
Julius Aghahowa is booked for a foul on Sol Campbell.
52mins
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.
51mins
Wigan are just ahead in the opening five minutes, and the home fans will be hoping for more the same.
48mins
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.
47mins
Sylvain Distin is fouled and Pompey are awarded a free-kick, and the fans are in good voice after the break.
45mins
The second half gets underway, and both sets of fans and no doubt players, will be hoping for a much improved performance.
45mins
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.
45mins
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.
44mins
The game has got a bit scrappy here as Niko Kranjcar and Paul Scharner have a bit of a tussle on the ball.
41mins
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.
40mins
Unless there is a moment of magic here at the JJB, it seems the game will go into the break 0-0.
38mins
Sol Campbell is booked for pulling down Antoine Sibierski.
37mins
Bent has a good effort on goal, but it hits the side-netting.
34mins
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.
31mins
The crowd have now gone very quiet, and who can blame them, both teams here seem to be stuck in a creative rut.
28mins
Nearing the half hour mark, and after a promising start, not much has materalised in terms of chances on goal.
26mins
Kevin Kilbane whips in a Wigan corner and Antoine Sibierski heads over, perhaps he should have done better there.
25mins
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.
22mins
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.
19mins
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.
16mins
Jason Koumas has started well and he seems to be in the middle of alot of Wigan's play so far.
13mins
Jason Koumas shows good play and beats a couple of men, but he is unable to supply a good ball through to his strikers.
10mins
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.
7mins
It's been a good start to this game for both sides, as Wigan and Pompey show good inititive with the ball.
4mins
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.
2mins
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.
0mins
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.
0mins
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
0mins
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
Match Preview
Wigan are tasked with reining in a red-hot Portsmouth side when the two teams meet at the JJB Stadium on Saturday.
Pompey have won four games in a row, scoring nine times in their last two matches, to leave them fifth in the Premier League.
Wigan haven't won since August 18th, loosing five times, including their last three, and drawing twice.
The Latics will draw on the last encounter between the two sides, when a Lee McCulloch goal won the game for Wigan and also the possible return of two key players.
Midfield playmaker Jason Koumas missed both of Wales' fixtures over the past seven days with a hip and thigh problem. That rest could actually give him a chance of recovering in time to face Pompey.
Top scorer Antoine Sibierski has never had international fixtures to worry about, but the Frenchman will also have been grateful for the time off as he recovers from a hamstring problem.
The only long-term injury problem at Wigan is Emile Heskey, whose fractured foot is already on the mend.
He explained his current state to the Wigan Evening Post this week: "When I had the (metatarsal) operation, the doctor told me it would be between six and eight weeks before I was playing. So there's another three to five weeks left.
"You never know, once I get the boot off, it might have healed a little bit quicker. I hope I'm a quick healer." Heskey added.
Nwankwo Kanu, Portsmouth's main injury worry, is still a doubt due to his injured knee. With fellow striker Benjani Mwaruwari scoring five times in two games the Nigerian star won't be rushed back into the team.
Defender Linvoy Primus is also out with a groin problem, but tests this week showed no long-term damage, allowing him to return to training by next week.
The hamstring injury sustained by Papa Bouba Diop in the 2-0 win over Fulham isn't serious, despite being the initial excuse given for his absence from Senegal's friendly against Guinea last weekend.
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Match Report
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.
Wigan Athletic Team
Portsmouth Team
Wigan Athletic | Portsmouth |
Corners
| 3 | 2 |
Fouls
| 9 | 9 |
Goal attempts
| 7 | 16 |
Shots off target
| 6 | 7 |
Offsides
| 4 | 1 |
90mins
The away fans are in full swing now, and everyone is just waiting for that final whistle to go.