Last gasp Wigan snatch draw

A spectacular last gasp shot from Steve Gohuri earned the Latics a last gasp equiliser and confirmed Hull’s relegation from the Premier League.

Martinez was forced into a dramatic reshuffle of his team with injuries plus a nasty stomach bug accoubnting for almost half of the team which narrowly lost away at West Ham last weekend.

Shorn of Kirkland, Bramble, N’Zogbia and Moreno mant that there were recalls to the starting line up for Stojkovic, Gohuri, Moses and Gomez, with Rodallega taking the lone froward role and Gomez playing as a right winger.

Martinez had called for a party atmosphere , however the atmosphere on the pitch was very much the morning after the night before,with sepcualtion amongst the fans as to whether the reason was that the players were already mentally in Barbados with the chairman or affected by reports that avoiding relegation is the ultimate ambuition for Wigan as stated in today’s press by Mr Whelan.

What followed was a disjointed performance, with too many players content to take the easy option and pass backwards rather than drive forward agaisnt a very poor Hull side.

This lack of drive allowed Hull to compete and for the first thirty minutes there was very little to enthuse about from either side, which must have resulted in ESPN subscribers switching off in droves.

The one entertaining highlight in the dour first thirty minutes was the eccentric keeping of Vladimir Stojkovic, whose inability to either catch or kick a ball should make for interesting watching during the World Cup.

The game sparked to life however when Victor Moses cut in from the left wing, with Rodallega screaming for the ball in the centre he opted to ignore him and fire a shot in off the post for a debut goal in a Latics’ shirt.

This lifted the game above mediocre and with Cullen giving the Latics’ centre backs a difficult afternoon, it was no surprise when Hull equalised although, there was an air of controversy about the goal.

A cross over towards the right hand side of the penalty area found Atkinson unmarked and he rose to head the ball past the Serbian keeper for the equiliser.

The Latics players surrounded the referee as the assistant had raised his flag causing the Latics players to stop. The referee correctly ruled that the goalscorer had come from an onside position and as he hadn’t blown his whistle is was play on so the goal stood.

The quality of football offered in the second half was little better than the first, although Hull looked more enterprising going forward with Wigan seemingly content to counter attack.

Indeed Hull deservedly took the lead when a cross from the right was mis-judged by Gohuri who ducked underneath the ball, it found the head of Cullen who scored an easy header past the static Srojkovic.

Latics pressed forward in search of an equiliser but created very few real chances.

Just when the game seemd to be out of Wigan’s grasp a corner found Scharner’s head and the big Austrian header the ball into the six yard area, where Gohuri chested the ball down and then performed a spectacular overhead kick to bury the ball in the net.

This sparked a moronic pitch invasion from a section of home fans which will surely result in a hefty fine for the Wigan club.

When sanity was restored the game was played out for a draw which must surely be viewed as two points lost agaisnt a very ordinary Hull City team.

Player Ratings

Vladamir Stojkovic…3/10
He can’t catch or kick and doesn’t know when to come off his line. Hopefully wont be seen wearing a Latics shirt ever again.

Mario Melchiot…6/10
A reliable performance in what could be the Dutch master’s last ever home game for Wigan.

Maynor Figueroa…6/10
Steady performance in what hasn’t been a great season for the Honduran.

Gary Caldwell…7/10
Worked hard all afternnon and a vocal presence in the back four.

Steve Gohuri…7.5/10
Dseerved the MOM award for a commited performance.

James McCarthy…6/10
Worked hard in midfield, breaking up the Hull play but didn’t create as much as he usually does going forwards.

Jordi Gomez…5/10
A couple of good shots but a very lazy player .

Momo Diame…6/10
Not his best game for the Latics.

Victor Moses…6/10
A good crosser of a ball and a fine goal but needs to toughen up, all too easily pusherd off the ball.

Ben Watson…6/10
A good defensive display but lacked the drive when going forwards.

Hugo Rodallega…6/10
Lacked support up front to have any real influence in the game.

Scott Sinclair…5/10
Showed nothing to indicate he is worth another loan deal. Bottled out of a couple of challenges.

Jason Scotland…5/10
Showed little to suggest he will be pushing for a first team start next season.
Was pumped up in what was his final cameo performance at the DW and his never say die attitude was instruemental in the equiliser.

Critical transfer window
We have been very lucky to find three teams who are consistently poorer than us this season, even so we only took 8 out of 18 points off the three relegated clubs.

With Martinez talking about building for Europe and Mr Whelan quoted as saying that Europe is beyond our rescources, there needs to be some clever buying in the forthcoming window espically with unconfirmed stories linking several of our best players with a move away from the DW, with little or no fianance from their sales being made available for Martinez to buy replacements.
With at least six new players needed and a rumoured transfer budget of six million pounds, Martinez will have to look at free transfers, loans and cheap overseas players if Wigan are going to remain a Premier League team