Barclays Premier League - Sunday 9th March 2008
Wigan Athletic

WIGAN ATHLETIC

0

Arsenal

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ARSENAL

Arsenal

0

We might be in the relegation dog fight, but at times you would have questioned which team were actually top and which were near the bottom in this match.

I can imagine the massive grin a certain Alex Fergusson will have on his face, even with his side crashing out of the FA Cup.

The draw lifted Wigan up to 13th place, above both Newcastle and Reading. But the significant stat is, that we have now kept 4 clean sheets out of 5 and that will be key to us staying up.

The usual comments were made by the usual suspects about the state of the pitch, but even though Arsene Wenger called it a 'disaster', he also commented that Wigan were deserving of the draw.

The game opened up quite ominously for Latics as Adebayor went one on one with Kirkland before the first minute was played. The England stopper was right on top of it though and produced a fine save.

Fabregas had a half chance moments later but the Latics stopper was equal to it again. That was the end of Arsenals chances for the first half, as Latics got themselves together and limited the amount of runs the Gunners could have.

In fact on another day against lesser teams, we could have gone in 1-0 to the good in the first half. Wayward shooting from Palacios and Koumas meant that we actually didn't have a shot on target in the first half.

The second half was totally different as we took the game to them and for about 15 minutes you would have been hard pressed to know which team was leading the Premier League.

Arsenal just didn't have an answer for Brown and Palacios' energy and drive. Almunia was forced into a couple of marvellous saves from Jason Koumas and Luis Antonio Valencia.

The Gunners keeper on both occasions having to force the ball round the post for corners. He also had to be sharp to keep out a Scharner header.

In the last couple of minutes of the game Kirkland pulled of the save of the match as he got down on Fabregas when a goal looked certain.

Latics then went straight up the other end of the pitch and Jason Koumas saw his goal bound shot blocked by Fabregas' arm. The Referee of course didn't see this and waved away the penalty appeals.

Interesting fact: Arsenal didn't field ONE BRITISH player, only Justin Hoyte travelled and was an unused sub.

Some of the whinging left a lot to be desired. Fabregas faked a head blow just after he had pushed Heskey into a TV camera, Rob Stiles didn't see fit to book him even though he knew he was faking.

Flamini was constantly arguing decisions with the referee, mainly the ones where he didn't award Latics players yellow cards. Yet Sibierski complained about one decision and you guessed it - was booked.

Hleb hacked down Scharner in a similar fashion to Martin Taylor's late lunge on Eduardo the other week, the referee played a good advantage but when the ball eventually went out of play he just held his thumbs up to Hleb without a word being spoken.

The moment of the game had to be the West Stand's gestures every time Wenger got of the bench. They copied the flamboyant Frenchman's arms failing in the air - just a pity the result wasn't going for him eh????

If Latics take this kind of form into our last home games against Bolton, Birmingham and Reading, Latics will be playing their fourth season in the Premier League next year.

Venue: JJB Stadium

Attendance: 19,676

Kick Off: 16:00

Referee: Rob Styles, Waterlooville, Hampshire

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