Source: Eurosport
Rodallega seals Latics win
Striker Hugo Rodallega's second goal of the season was enough for Wigan to beat West Ham 1-0 at the DW Stadium and ease some of the pressure on manager Roberto Martinez.[LNB] The Colombia striker pounced in the 55th minute to stab home Jason Koumas' blocked shot and end a run of three successive Barclays Premier League defeats.[LNB] Prior to that the main point of interest had been the form of England goalkeeper Robert Green, who produced decent saves to deny Rodallega and Jordi Gomez in the first half.[LNB] There were few chances early on, although Carlton Cole should have done better when making minimal contact with Mark Noble's bouncing pass. [LNB] Chris Kirkland was called into action to tip Noble's shot, deflected through a crowd of players, around a post. [LNB] Zavon Hines cut in from the left to fire a right-footed shot at Kirkland, who was almost caught out moments later when he took too long to deal with a Titus Bramble back-pass and the young striker charged down his clearance only for it to rebound for a goal-kick [LNB] Rodallega's looping deflected shot off defender Matthew Upson forced Green into a fingertip save over his crossbar, with the goalkeeper also turning Gomez's dipping strike behind for a corner as Wigan pushed for the breakthrough before the interval. [LNB] The game then sprung into life in the second half, when Rodallega poked home a rebound after Koumas had been denied by Robert Green's reaction save. [LNB] Mercifully the goal put some spark into the game and Wigan had to withstand a flurry of West Ham attacks. [LNB] Bramble's tackle denied Junior Stanislas as he burst into the area, James Tomkins headed the resulting corner narrowly wide of the far post and substitute Alessandro Diamanti's cross-shot from wide on the right cannoned back off the crossbar with Kirkland beaten.
