Relegation battles aren't meant to be won with such ease. Wigan waltzed to this victory at the Madejski Stadium courtesy of a rampant spell either side of the break, in which they netted three times in four minutes. Arouna Koné's two goals – presuming he has the temerity to claim them both – were opposites and gave the visitors a momentous advantage not just in this match, but in the relegation scrap as a whole. His goalline deflection and lovely chip preceded a killer strike from Maynor Figueroa early in the second half. Reading were limp in comparison and aghast at the result. They must now peer upwards at their rivals, who had started the day beneath them in the relegation zone.
The early stages of the match were rich with intent and the two teams, with 17 changes between them after their respective FA Cup outings against Manchester United and Huddersfield, pulsed from box to box. Wigan's Argentinian striker Franco Di Santo fashioned a chance in the third minute, cutting through the home defence with a dribbling run, but his low shot from the edge of the box was turned wide by the Reading keeper, Adam Federici. At the other end, Jem Karacan lofted a sweet ball on to the head of the unmarked Hope Akpan, but he steered the ball harmlessly over when he should have hit the target.
Jimmy Kébé, back in the Reading team after a knock he sustained in their previous league match — a 2-1 defeat at Stoke — was a pest on the right flank. He flashed a shot against the side netting that the home fans momentarily mistook for a goal.
It was, however, the Wigan defender Paul Scharner whose contribution seemed to turn the first half. He displayed immense strength and awareness to divert Kébé's dangerous cross at the near post and thwart the onrushing Pavel Pogrebnyak in the 25th minute. Scharner made 156 appearances for Wigan in his first spell with the club and was brought back on loan from Hamburg in the transfer window — evidently a shrewd move by the Wigan manager, Roberto Martínez.
Thereafter, Wigan became the dominant side and, after a solid period of pressure leading into the break, they poached two quick goals. First, Figueroa headed a loose ball goalwards from five yards out and, on its way into the net, it glanced off the body of Koné, the Ivory Coast international.
Koné's role in the second goal was much more pronounced. Jean Beausejour's slide-rule pass put the striker free in a wealth of space on the right and he chipped an exquisite shot over Federici as the keeper came to block him.
Reading have, though, built a reputation for comebacks this season –especially in the closing stages of games. The Royals have scored 12 goals in the final quarter of an hour of Premier League matches this season, acquiring an extra 11 points as a consequence. So the two-goal deficit was unlikely to faze them, much as it hurt them. That said, Brian McDermott and his players could not have expected that the second half would begin as gravely as the first ended, but it took only three minutes for Reading to ship a third goal. It was another fine move from the visitors as Figueroa played a seamless one-two with Di Santo and slotted the resulting chance through the legs of Federici.
Reading's fans grew wild with rage as every decision that followed was perceived to go against them, including Pogrebnyak's sending off for a bad challenge on Figueroa in the 56th minute. In truth, the problem was the dearth of genuine chances being created by their players.
Reading had enjoyed a hugely productive run of late, especially at the Madejski; four victories from their past seven matches on home soil and a tally of 14 points since Christmas meant that a point was all that kept them in the relegation zone at kick-off.
Wigan, on the other hand, had no such form coming into the match, yet they looked dynamic, creative and ruthlessly confident. Koné's and Di Santo's link play grew slicker, featuring one-two passing, deft touches and an apparently instinctive relationship on and off the ball. It seemed odd to think they had only scored 11 league goals between them this season. Di Santo could have added three more before his substitution in the 75th minute: twice the ball zipped agonisingly past him as he stretched for low crosses in the six-yard box and, in his final contribution, he shot over the bar after bursting into the box.
Wigan now have three home games on the trot in which they could lift themselves further up the table, starting with a visit from Liverpool. Reading, meanwhile, travel to Everton before another critical home match against fellow strugglers Aston Villa. They can ill afford to lose that now.
No comments:
Post a Comment