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  • Date: 2007-08-18
  • Kick-off: 15:00
  • Venue: The JJB Stadium
  • Attendance: 18639
  • Referee: Riley, M

Live Commentary

90mins

FULL TIME - WIGAN 3 - 0 SUNDERLAND: Roy Keane shakes hands with Chris Hutchings and swiftly makes his way down the tunnel. Wigan have given his Premiership new-boys a wake-up call with an emphatic, and thoroughly deserved, victory

90mins

The fourth official indicates two minutes of added time.

89mins

The visitors will be hoping there is minimal amount of added time as they count down the seconds to the final whistle.

87mins

The majority of the travelling supporters have left the stadium, to make an early start on the long journey home.

85mins

Koumas, who has run the game today, curls an inviting cross into the danger area but Gordon manages to punch the ball clear

83mins

Michael Brown is brought on to make his debut for the closing stages of the game. He replaces Paul Scharner.

81mins

Wallace puts a hopeful cross into the penalty area but the visitors have given up now, and Granqvist clears with ease

79mins

Wigan are cruising at the moment and Chris Hutchings will be delighted.

77mins

Emile Heskey is replaced by Caleb Folan, and the goalscorer receives a rapturous applause for his performance this afternoon.

75mins

Mario Melchiot leaves the field, making way for Julius Aghahowa

73mins

Miller gets a cross into the box but Kirkland rushes off his line to collect the ball.

71mins

Sunderland have fallen to pieces now and Roy Keane is left fuming on the sidelines, with two of his substitutes conceding the penalties.

69mins

WIGAN 3 - 0 SUNDERLAND: ANTOINE SIBIERSKI takes the penalty this time, and drills it past the helpless Craig Gordon.

68mins

Russell Anderson brings down Heskey inside the area and Wigan have a second penalty.

65mins

Sunderland will be wishing they had taken their chances just minutes before Wigan doubled their tally.

64mins

Dickson Ethu is cautioned for a rash challenge on Paul Scharner

63mins

Roy Keane makes immediate changes. The quiet Paul McShane is replaced by Russell Anderson

62mins

WIGAN 2 - 0 SUNDERLAND: DENNY LANDZAAT rolls the ball into the bottom-right corner of the goal from the penalty spot

61mins

Danny Collins receives the first booking of the game for challenge which lead to the penalty.

61mins

Sibierski is hacked down by Collins on the penalty spot and this time, Mike Riley awards the penalty.

59mins

Chopra shrugs off Bramble but is pulled back for offside.

57mins

Miller takes the corner this time and Collins gets his head to the cross but sends the ball wide of the mark

56mins

The resulting corner is taken by Wallace. He picks out Miller who strikes the ball from 18-yards but Heskey gets in the way, and the visitors win another corner.

55mins

Ross Wallace gets on the end of a cross and hits a low shot which deflects off Granqvist just wide of the post

53mins

Chopra looks to have a spring in his step. He gets a shot away from just outside to box, but Bramble is marking him tightly and gets a block in.

52mins

The last times these two sides met in the Premiership, Wigan did the double over Sunderland, each time with a 1-0 victory.

50mins

The ball falls kindly for Collins inside the area, but he appears to take his eye of the ball for a split second and makes a mess of the opportunity.

48mins

Koumas hits a long-range free-kick but it sails straight down the throat of Gordon.

46mins

Sunderland attack immediately but Chopra's cross is blocked by Bramble.

45mins

The in-affective Dwight Yorke makes way for Danny Collins

45mins

The two players taking the field were warming-up vigorously during the interval. Liam Miller replaces Anthony Stokes

45mins

The two sides re-appear and Roy Keane makes two changes to the line-up, while Wigan remain unchanged.

45mins

HALF TIME - WIGAN 1 - 0 SUNDERLAND: Mike Riley brings the first-half to a close and Wigan are 1-0 up thanks to a fine Heskey goal. The big striker has been lively for the home side, while Michael Chopra has looked bright for the visitors.

43mins

Wigan are trying their luck from all over the pitch at the moment. Sibierski this time lets fly from well outside the area, but sends his shot straight into the arms of Gordon.

41mins

Heskey is causing all sorts of problems at the moment. He gets behind the Sunderland defence and puts the ball in the net, but the offside flag is raised,

39mins

Heskey climbs above Nyron Nosworthy and nods the ball goal-wards, forcing a spectacular save out of Gordon

36mins

This fixture is usually a low-scoring encounter, and it looks set to be heading that way again despite the amount of efforts on goal from either side

34mins

Chopra is looking lively and his team-mates appear to be looking to get the ball into his feet as much as possible.

32mins

Chopra controls the ball well before pulling the trigger, but Andreas Granqvist blocks the shot

30mins

The rain is still pouring down inside the JJB Stadium, but the home faithful continue singing and urging on their side

28mins

Heskey chases down a back-pass and looks as if he may make it before he is pushed over by a Sunderland defender, and again Mike Riley waves play on.

27mins

Denny Landzaat hits an action replay shot of the Valencia effort just moments earlier, but he sends his shot wide of the mark

26mins

Luis Antonio Valencia finds some space and hits an ambitious effort, but fails to trouble Gordon

24mins

The game is fast and furious at the moment, as Sunderland begin showing the Roy Keane 'never-say-die' attitude

22mins

Richardson lets fly from just outdie the penalty box, but Melchiot gets his body in the way

20mins

Heskey goes in search of another and finds himself through on goal, but he is pulled back for offside.

18mins

WIGAN 1 - 0 SUNDERLAND: Sibierski crosses and finds EMILE HESKEY, who is wide open, and he slots the ball past Craig Gordon from the edge of the area.

15mins

Richardson's delivery from corner-kicks are of the best quality. He floats the ball into the mixer for Ross Wallace, but Chopra is pulled up for a handball.

13mins

Richardson finds Greg Halford with a corner, but he fires over from 12-yards.

12mins

Chopra steps up to take a free-kick, 30-yards from goal. He swings it goal-wards and forces a fine save out of Kirkland

10mins

Koumas picks out Melchiot with another corner, but the Dutch defender is penalised for a foul

8mins

The pitch looks slippy and some of the players appear to be finding it hard to stay on their feet

6mins

Jason Koumas picks out Mario Melchiot from a corner but he heads the ball over the crossbar

5mins

Dwight Yorke links up with Michael Chopra, who rolls the ball into the six-yard box but Wigan manage to punt the ball clear

3mins

Emile Heskey gets a break before he is bundled over in the area and appeals for a penalty, but Mike Riley waves away the protests.

2mins

Richardson takes a short corner with Murphy, whose low cross is smothered by Chris Kirkland at his near post

1mins

Daryl Murphy slips a pass into the box looking for Kieran Richardson, but a Wigan defender intercepts and concedes a corner

0mins

Referee Mike Riley gets the game underway. The two sides have met eight times previously, all in the Premiership, half of which ended up as draws.

0mins

WIGAN: Kirkland, Melchiot, Bramble, Granqvist, Kilbane, Valencia, Scharner, Landzaat, Koumas, Heskey, Sibierski. SUBS: Pollitt, Hall, Brown, Aghahowa, Folan

0mins

SUNDERLAND: Gordon, Halford, Nosworthy, McShane, Wallace, Richardson, Etuhu, Yorke, Murphy, Chopra, Stokes. SUBS: Miller, John, Collins, Anderson, Connolly

0mins

Summer signing Michael Brown is in the Wigan squad for the first time after suspension, but Emerson Boyce and Ryan Taylor are both sidelined.

0mins

Sunderland make the trip to the JJB Stadium without Carlos Edwards and Grant Leadbitter, who are both injured. Dwight Yorke and Kieran Richardson both make the starting line-up however, while Stern John is on the bench.

Match Preview

Wigan Athletic welcome Sunderland to the JJB Stadium on Saturday having secured the first points of Chris Hutchings' managerial tenure in midweek.

Hutchings, who was handed the managerial reins following former boss Paul Jewell's decision to step down at the end of last season, saw his side follow up a 2-1 defeat at Everton on the opening day of the season with a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Wednesday evening.

Antoine Sibierski, who was snapped up on a free transfer from Newcastle United during the summer, broke the deadlock with a scruffy goal in the 55th minute.

The 33-year-old Frenchman also scored at Everton last weekend and will retain his place in the starting line-up despite suffering from leg cramps towards the end of the Boro game.

Ryan Taylor (shin) remains Wigan's only injury concern as fellow absentee Henri Camara is now available for selection.

The Senegal international made just two appearances during the closing months of last season after damaging knee ligaments and could be in line for a place on the bench at the weekend.

Sunderland's return to the top-flight has begun in stirring fashion with late goals in last weekend's 1-0 win over Tottenham and the midweek 2-2 draw with fellow Premier League new boys Birmingham City.

Five million summer signing Michael Chopra shook off a dead leg to play against the Blues in a new-look strikeforce alongside David Connolly and scored the opening goal for Roy Keane's side.

Stern John popped up with a last minute equaliser at St Andrew's against his former club, but Keane remains determined to add to his striking options and after missing out on Tottenham forward Mido and has set his sights on free agent former Manchester United team-mate Andrew Cole.

The 35-year-old is without a club after being released by Portsmouth earlier this summer and Keane is looking to add him to his striking options before the end of the month.

Match Report

Emile Heskey showed just why manager Chris Hutchings reckons he could still do a job for England in the forthcoming European qualifiers.

The forgotten striker - last capped three years ago and discarded too soon according to his manager - was outstanding as Wigan made it two wins in four days to storm up the Premier League table.

He scored the first goal, played his part in the second, a Denny Landzaat penalty, and earned the spot-kick for number three, scored by Antoine Sibierski.

Wigan were unchanged with £2million ex-Fulham midfielder Michael Brown on the bench after suspension.

Roy Keane predictably made changes with Dwight Yorke, Kieran Richardson,and Anthony Stokes back after missing the midweek draw at Birmingham.

Keeper Chris Kirkland faced early danger when he was forced to keep out a Richardson near-post effort after Wigan gave away an early corner.

And he also did well tipping a Michael Chopra free-kick over the bar after Paul Scharner's foul on Yorke ten yards outside the box.

But otherwise, Wigan were in charge. They had a penalty appeal turned down when Heskey went down under the challenge from Nyron Nosworthy but ref Mike Riley appeared to get it right.

Wigan took the lead after 19 minutes when Antonio Valencia's ball into the box took a deflection to Heskey, who came up with a confident finish although the Latics striker did appear to be offside.

Heskey was unlucky to be pulled back for offside as he raced clear and Wigan fans were fuming again when a strong penalty claim from Jason Koumas failed to impress Mr Riley.

Kirkland kept Wigan's lead intact with a save from Daryl Murphy after Richardson set up the chance but Craig Gordon was just as effective at the other end turning a Heskey header over the bar from Landzaat's free-kick.

The lively Heskey did have the ball in the net again but this time he was nabbed for offside and Wigan had to settle for a 1-0l half-time advantage.

Sunderland went close when Andreas Granqvist blocked from Ross Wallace but the Latics got the all-important second goal after 61 minutes.

Sibierski was bundled over by sub Danny Collins chasing Heskey's header and this time the ref had no doubt, and Landzaat made no mistake from the spot.

Heskey was then brought down by Russell Anderson and Sibierski hit his third of the season from the spot.

Wigan Athletic

Sunderland

Corners

59

Fouls

817

Goal attempts

119

Shots off target

53

Offsides

32

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