Wigan Athletic 1-0 Liverpool: Rodallega Dents Liverpool's Top Four Aspirations

Liverpool's Champions League aspirations suffered a blow as Wigan Athletic downed Rafa Benitez's side 1-0 at the DW Stadium, through Hugo Rodallega's 35 minute strike.

Two very different teams with very different priorities graced the pitch of the DW Stadium tonight, however both desperately needed all three-points, Wigan to try and survive in the Premier League and Liverpool to clinch the final Champions League spot.

Roberto Martinez made two changes to his side which lost against Birmingham, bringing in Emmerson Boyce for Mario Melchiot and dropping Hendry Thomas in favor of Marcelo Moreno.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos returned to the team to replace Daniel Agger, and Argentine full-back Emiliano Insua replaced the injured Fabio Aurelio on the left side of Liverpool’s defense.

Liverpool were the quicker off the mark out of the two teams, with Fernando Torres being caught just offside and Steven Gerrard sending an optimistic shot over the crossbar.

After a Gerrard corner into the box was cleared Maxi Rodriguez headed it back into the action and found Torres who saw his shot go just wide of Chris Kirkland’s left-hand post.

Despite Liverpool having the better of the chances in the opening ten minutes Wigan weren’t willing to sit back and defend, with James McCarthy breaking into the box and forcing a challenge from Jamie Carragher before Charles N’Zogbia sent the ball dangerously across the face of goal.

N’Zogbia continued to trouble Liverpool’s back-four, but it was Hugo Rodallega who’d have the next attempt, sending a free-kick well over Pepe Reina’s crossbar.

With just under 25 minutes gone it was Gerrard who supplied Liverpool their best  chance of the evening thus far, picking up on a pass from Benayoun before seeing his shot denied by the fingertips of Kirkland in the Wigan goal.

But it wasn’t long before the Latics went back on the attack, with Dirk Kuyt giving away the ball to Boyce who laid the ball off to Rodallega, allowing the Wigan forward to slot it into Reina’s bottom right corner.

Wigan continued to look dangerous going forward, but Liverpool had the next good chance of the game, with Rodriguez crossing in from the right-hand side before Torres saw his header sail over the bar.


But Wigan looked to continue their impressive first half performance, pushing forward with Moreno and Boyce playing a beautiful one-two before Boyce misplaced a pass allowing the Liverpool defense to clear their lines.

With just 55 minutes on the clock Rafael Benitez made his first substitution, bringing on Glen Johnson to replace Lucas Leiva, switching Mascherano from the full-back position into the heart of Liverpool’s midfield.

Moreno again troubled Liverpool’s back four, forcing a slip from Jamie Carragher before sending it into the box where Kyrgiakos was forced to head over the bar to prevent a second goal for Wigan.

With the hour mark approaching Wigan continued to attack, with Moreno having another effort on goal collected easily by Reine before Boyce hit a volley from distance wide of the Liverpool keepers right-hand post.

Looking to further extent Wigan’s lead, Roberto Martinez made his first change of the evening, replacing Moreno with youngster Victor Moses.

Moments later Liverpool made their second change of the game, removing Israeli captain Benayoun and bringing on Alberto Aquilani.

Wigan were offered another chance to extend their lead, when N’Zogbia picked up the ball in the box and saw his effort clip of the legs of Reina before Johnson cleared to stop an advancing Paul Scharner from tapping it into an open net.

After some good play from Aquilani, Insua found himself in space on the left-hand side, before sending it over to Kuyt who in turn fed Torres, but the Spaniard's overhead kick went just wide of Kirkland’s left hand post.

With ten minutes to go, Mohmad Diame was forced off through injury, and was replaced by Hendry Thomas.

Liverpool also made a change, their third and final substitution, bringing on Dutch winger Ryan Babel to replace Kuyt.

With five minutes of normal time to go, goalscorer Rodallega was replaced by Jason Scotland.

Roberto Martinez's side walked out deserved winners and the three points will no doubt prove invaluable in the sides battle to stay in England's top flight.

The loss makes the already hard challenge of clinching the final Champions League place even harder for Rafael Benitez's side, especially when all three points today would have sent them into fourth spot.

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