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Wigan Athletic 1-1 Stoke City: Sanli Tuncay cancels out Paul Scharner header to deny hosts
Tuncay and Scharner head home for draw...
9 Feb 2010 21:50:00
By Michael Owen
Wigan Athletic 1-1 Stoke City: Line-up & stats
Premier League results/standings
Wigan Athletic and Stoke City left the DW Stadium with a point each after headed goals from Paul Scharner and Sanli Tuncay.
Stoke travelled north to face Wigan hoping to continue on from their 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez made only one change to the side that clinched the Latics a much-needed point against Sunderland at the weekend, bringing in striker Jason Scotland in favour of midfielder Hendry Thomas.
Tony Pulis made two changes to his Stoke City team, dropping recently arrested Ricardo Fuller in favour of Tuncay and replacing Liam Lawrence with Glenn Whelan.
Wigan had won just one of their last three of their 10 home games this campaign and had conceded the second most in the league (48) with only Hull City (50) conceding more goals in the Premier League.
Stoke had made a good start to the year, remaining unbeaten in the six games they had played in 2010. The Potters needed a win at the DW to improve their form away from home, however, as they had won just one of their eleven 11 games on the road.
Wigan started out well, applying pressure in and around the Stoke box which culminated in Hugo Rodallega miss-hitting a pass intended for Scharner, resulting in a goal-kick.
Wigan’s pressure paid off on the 14 minute mark, however, when Scharner gave his side the lead with a header from a free-kick after England hopeful Matthew Etherington fouled Charles N’Zogbia just outside the Stoke box.
With 15 minutes of the first half remaining, Stoke began to improve, upping the pressure on the Wigan defence. Martinez’s side remained resilient at the back, however, with Emmerson Boyce clearing a long-range effort from Whelan.
In the last few minutes of the half Wigan went back on the attack, with Scharner again rising in the box only to see his header fly wide of the left-hand post. Wigan continued to attack just before the whistle but saw their best chance, a corner from James McCarthy, cleared by Robert Huth.
Stoke came out on the attack in the second half, but the first real chance fell to Wigan, after N’Zogbia played it out wide to Scotland who saw his pass into the box cleared by Huth.
55 minutes in and Martinez made his first substitution of the game, bringing on Thomas to replace McCarthy in an attempt to hold onto their lead.
Just five minutes later, Wigan made their second substitution, with striker Scotland being replaced by Jordi Gomez, while Stoke swapped Rory Delap for Fuller.
Both teams failed to create any real chances going into the last 30 minutes until Rodallega came close with an adventurous overhead kick which nearly extended Wigan’s fragile lead.
Despite Wigan’s defence showing great resilience, Tuncay managed to get an equaliser for Stoke in the 72nd minute when he latched onto an Etherington ball into the penalty area to head it into the back of the net.
Seconds after their first, Stoke threatened again only for Mamady Sidibe to hit the woodwork after another cross from Etherington.
With 10 minutes to go, Wigan made their third and final substitution with Marcelo Moreno coming on for Mohamed Diame in an attempt to regain the lead. Minutes later Stoke also made their last two changes of the game, bringing on James Beattie and Lawrence to replace Sidibe and Tuncay.
Both teams had their chances in the final minutes with Moreno shooting wide for Wigan and Stoke striker Beattie forcing a save out of Wigan’s Chris Kirkland following a cross from Etherington. Neither side managed to take their late chances, however, meaning it was all level when the final whistle blew.
The draw represented a valuable point for Wigan in their battle for survival at the bottom of the Premier League. Roberto Martinez will also be able to take encouragement from a much-improved performance from his side, who dominated the first 45 minutes.
Stoke will have felt they needed a win at the DW in order to stay out of the relegation battle but the draw represents what could be deemed another poor result away from home for the Potters.
Premier League results/standings
Wigan Athletic and Stoke City left the DW Stadium with a point each after headed goals from Paul Scharner and Sanli Tuncay.
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Stoke travelled north to face Wigan hoping to continue on from their 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez made only one change to the side that clinched the Latics a much-needed point against Sunderland at the weekend, bringing in striker Jason Scotland in favour of midfielder Hendry Thomas.
Tony Pulis made two changes to his Stoke City team, dropping recently arrested Ricardo Fuller in favour of Tuncay and replacing Liam Lawrence with Glenn Whelan.
Wigan had won just one of their last three of their 10 home games this campaign and had conceded the second most in the league (48) with only Hull City (50) conceding more goals in the Premier League.
Stoke had made a good start to the year, remaining unbeaten in the six games they had played in 2010. The Potters needed a win at the DW to improve their form away from home, however, as they had won just one of their eleven 11 games on the road.
Wigan started out well, applying pressure in and around the Stoke box which culminated in Hugo Rodallega miss-hitting a pass intended for Scharner, resulting in a goal-kick.
Wigan’s pressure paid off on the 14 minute mark, however, when Scharner gave his side the lead with a header from a free-kick after England hopeful Matthew Etherington fouled Charles N’Zogbia just outside the Stoke box.
With 15 minutes of the first half remaining, Stoke began to improve, upping the pressure on the Wigan defence. Martinez’s side remained resilient at the back, however, with Emmerson Boyce clearing a long-range effort from Whelan.
In the last few minutes of the half Wigan went back on the attack, with Scharner again rising in the box only to see his header fly wide of the left-hand post. Wigan continued to attack just before the whistle but saw their best chance, a corner from James McCarthy, cleared by Robert Huth.
Stoke came out on the attack in the second half, but the first real chance fell to Wigan, after N’Zogbia played it out wide to Scotland who saw his pass into the box cleared by Huth.
55 minutes in and Martinez made his first substitution of the game, bringing on Thomas to replace McCarthy in an attempt to hold onto their lead.
Just five minutes later, Wigan made their second substitution, with striker Scotland being replaced by Jordi Gomez, while Stoke swapped Rory Delap for Fuller.
Both teams failed to create any real chances going into the last 30 minutes until Rodallega came close with an adventurous overhead kick which nearly extended Wigan’s fragile lead.
Despite Wigan’s defence showing great resilience, Tuncay managed to get an equaliser for Stoke in the 72nd minute when he latched onto an Etherington ball into the penalty area to head it into the back of the net.
Seconds after their first, Stoke threatened again only for Mamady Sidibe to hit the woodwork after another cross from Etherington.
With 10 minutes to go, Wigan made their third and final substitution with Marcelo Moreno coming on for Mohamed Diame in an attempt to regain the lead. Minutes later Stoke also made their last two changes of the game, bringing on James Beattie and Lawrence to replace Sidibe and Tuncay.
Both teams had their chances in the final minutes with Moreno shooting wide for Wigan and Stoke striker Beattie forcing a save out of Wigan’s Chris Kirkland following a cross from Etherington. Neither side managed to take their late chances, however, meaning it was all level when the final whistle blew.
The draw represented a valuable point for Wigan in their battle for survival at the bottom of the Premier League. Roberto Martinez will also be able to take encouragement from a much-improved performance from his side, who dominated the first 45 minutes.
Stoke will have felt they needed a win at the DW in order to stay out of the relegation battle but the draw represents what could be deemed another poor result away from home for the Potters.
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