Source: Daily_Mail
Wigan 0 Newcastle 1: Shola Ameobi strikes to push Wigan further into trouble
At the end, some ofthe Newcastle playersthrew their shirtsinto the crowd,which seemed anextreme reaction. [LNB]Nevertheless,for Alan Pardew's earlydays at St James' Park, thiswas a rather important win.Pardew has not had much luckthis year. [LNB]Treated dreadfully afterdoing a very good job at Southampton,he was then given a new startat a club whose supporters didn'treally want him. [LNB]Give us an arm up: Shola Ameobi celebrates slotting Newcastle in front[LNB]Just four games in, however, theNewcastle boss appears to be nudginghis new team in the right direction. [LNB]It was a pretty emphatic victoryyesterday, as comprehensiveas a one-goal win can be. The goal from Shola Ameobi arrived inthe 19th minute and, frankly, therecould have been more. [LNB]After a win over Liverpool anddefeats by Tottenham and ManchesterCity, yesterday's performanceand result were perhaps mostindicative of the state of Newcastle'shealth. [LNB]Net gains: Ameobi had the easiest task in slotting home after Wigan's sloppy defending[LNB]It is, after all, the muckand-nettles games that tend todetermine the shape of a season.At full time, Pardew was asked ifhe would consider a move for DavidBeckham, now the latch on theJanuary transfer window has beensprung. [LNB]Surprisingly, he said hewould but looking at theNewcastle midfield yesterday, it ishard to see how LA's most famousEnglish resident would get in theteam. [LNB]On a heavy pitch, on a dank day inLancashire, it was performancesfrom players like Joey Barton,Cheik Tiote and Jonas Gutierrezthat ensured Newcastle establishedearly dominance.[LNB]Hair raising: Coloccini (left) and Gomez battle for the ball[LNB] Later, as Wiganfound some impetus in the secondhalf, they were equally important inmaking sure the visitors didn't loosen their grip. [LNB]Pardew said: 'I don'tknow about Beckham. Ithink he is a player whocould play in this teamand add something tothis squad. But if he isavailable, I don't know.[LNB]'We do want to dosomething in January. Iwant an offensive player.The board know thatand the media knowthat. [LNB]'But I was pleased withthis performance as thethings that have cost usin the past have beeneradicated today.' [LNB]Having lost centreforward Andy Carroll forat least a fortnight to athigh injury, Pardew made a big call of his own volitionin dropping goalkeeper Tim Kruland recalling Steve Harper.[LNB]'It was tough on Tim, but I wantHarps to be our goalie for the restof the season,' said Pardew. [LNB]Harper made a good early saveyesterday, as he touched a curlingTom Cleverley effort round thepost, but so impotent were Wiganin the final third that the Newcastlekeeper really didn't have a lotmore to do. [LNB]At the other end, Wigan's Ali AlHabsi was much busier and wasbeaten midway through the first half. Ameobi should really havegiven Newcastle the lead in just thesecond minute, heading a DannySimpson cross over the bar when itseemed easier to score from just afew yards. When he got his secondopportunity of the game 17 minuteslater, he really couldn't miss.[LNB]Barton's shot on the run seemedto surprise Al Habsi a little as hedived to his right to stop it andwhen Peter Lovenkrands followedup to nudge the ball against thefoot of the post, his strike partnerwas able to ease it into the net fromtwo yards.[LNB] It was a poor goal forWigan to concede but there shouldhave been more.Barton and the Ivorian Tiote wereNewcastle's best players, butGutierrez was not far behind. [LNB]TheSouth American is sprinter-quickwhen he gets going, and braverthan many people realise. Certainly,Al Habsi had to be quick to closehim down when he ran clear on toJose Enrique's fine pass down theleft in the 43rd minute. [LNB]Just before that, Newcastledefender Fabricio Coloccini hadheaded a Barton corner on to thebar from 18 yards, and Pardew'smen hit the woodwork again midwaythrough the second half whenSteven Taylor met another Bartonflag-kick with his forehead.When away teams miss chances,they can be vulnerable but not inthis case. Wigan were not goodenough to trouble the Toon. [LNB]There were some decent performancesfrom Roberto Martinez'steam, notably from Cleverley andyoung Ben Watson. [LNB]Second-halfsubstitute James McArthur was fitfullyimpressive as well.But Wigan tried to play too muchfootball inside their own half andsimply ran out of ideas in the finalthird. [LNB]Watching brief: Roy Hodgson (left) greets Sir Alex Ferguson in the DW Stadium stands[LNB]They have only scored 17goals this season and it's not hardto see why.Martinez was honest enough toadmit his team had failed him afterwards,and admirably chose not tomake too much of a late Bartontackle on McArthur, which wasworthy of the booking it promptedand nothing more. [LNB]'It was a high tackle and not agood tackle,' he said. 'But that wasnot why we lost. We were just verypoor today.'[LNB] [LNB] Wigan v Newcastle - all the action as it happened live at the DW StadiumClub-by-club guide to every Premier League transfer deal during JanuaryAll the latest Wigan news, features and opinion All the latest Newcastle news, features and opinion[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: Gary Caldwell, Andy Carroll, Danny Simpson, Wayne Routledge, Leon Best, Joey Barton, Ben Watson, Jordi Gomez, Steven Taylor, Jonas Gutierrez Places: Newcastle
