Wigan 1 – 2 Everton

This was a game in which the soggy pitch contributed to the pace of the game as much as the efforts of the teams.

The early stages saw a lot of tentative long balls as no one wanted to risk taking the ball down on a surface that was already beginning to cut up. Wigan had most of the early play and were winning the physical battles around the pitch with Everton pinned in their own half for most of the opening quarter hour.

Palacios was doing particularly well for the home side, making space and shooting in the opening minutes. He was again active down the Wigan right on 7mins only for Heskey to head his cross well wide.

Everton enjoyed a good spell following the early Wigan pressure, earning some free kicks in dangerous positions. On 16mins a good move saw Johnson pull back for Arteta only for the Spaniard to shoot straight at Kirkland. However this was a rare instance when Johnson saw some support up front as Wigan were back on top again.

Bents header form a corner, on 21mins, was the closest the home side came in the first half but that effort was clawed onto the bar by Howard. Minutes later Valencia had a dangerous looking shot from the edge of the area only for Cahill to get him body in the way.

Wigan were dominating possession but Johnson was as busy as ever for Everton and fashioned a chance on 33mins as he got on the end of a long punt only to flash a shot across the goal and wide.

5 minutes later a slip from Bramble let the Toffee’s striker in and he made no mistake as he went one-on-one and coolly slotted between Kirkland’s legs to give Everton the lead.

The visitors played even deeper following this as Wigan had all the play but on 41mins a breakout earned Everton a corner. Wigan failed to clear and the ball came to Lescott on the back post who directed it home to give the Merseysiders an unlikely tow goal advantage going into the break.

Steve Bruce brought on Koumas and Sibierski at half time and the changes had an impact. Despite soaking up much of the pressure, on 53mins a Koumas free-kick was put into his own net by Jaglielka to give the home side some hope.

What followed was sustained attacking by Wigan, with Valencia seeing a lot of the ball, and Everton almost losing their composure at times. The away side weathered the storm and indeed it was they who came closest to scoring, on 66mins, as Arteta’s cross found Osman who’s half-volley went just wide.

Johnson was still doing a great job up o his own as Everton began to look more and more comfortable as the game went on. On 75mins the visitors went 4-4-2 with the introduction of the teenager James Vaughan and with that they began looking dangerous on the break.

The home side tried to build a head of steam on the closing stages and brought on another forward in the shape of Aghahowa. They came the closest when Kilbane got on the end of a free kick but his shot was well wide.

In the end it was a professional away performance by Everton but Wigan can take heart form their application and the spirit they showed.