Liverpool suffered a major setback in their attempts to preserve their residence in the Champions League when they succumbed to defeat at relegation-threatened Wigan. No margin for error, their manager, Rafael Benítez, had warned before kick off. But this Liverpool team is full of errors.
They would have reclaimed fourth place with a victory. Instead, their seventh away defeat of this Premier League campaign has left them sixth, one point behind Tottenham Hotspur in the final Champions League zone but having played one game more than Spurs, two more than Manchester City and three more than Aston Villa. Five bookings indicated their frustration.
Wigan’s slide towards relegation had appeared inexorable, with one win in 13 league games– against Wolves in January – explaining their position one point above the bottom three. There was a noticeable aversion to risk in Roberto Martinez’s team in the early stages, although given that their malaise has far deeper roots than the pitch here, that came as no surprise.
One glimpse of the quagmire that welcomed Spurs 16 days ago confirmed that the surface had to be re-laid but it was disconcerting to see the staff at work before this game had kicked off. The uneven turf needed treatment after the warm-up, with the distribution from all players paying an inevitable price once the match began.
Liverpool were first to settle and they looked well equipped to increase Wigan’s insecurities. Javier Mascherano, again preferred at right-back, with Glen Johnson returning to the bench after a three-month absence, caused problems with a low cross that fell to Steven Gerrard on the edge of the area – the shot was sliced over. Shortly after that Fernando Torres struck the outside of Chris Kirkland’s post from close range, after Maxi Rodríguez’s header had found the Spaniard unmarked from a Gerrard corner. First impressions were to prove thoroughly deceptive, however.
Wigan’s holding midfield duo, Mohamed Diame and James McCarthy, gradually took control in their individual battles, displaying an accuracy in the challenge and on the ball that Liverpool’s midfielders failed to match. Gerrard in particular had an ordeal.
While Diame and McCarthy provided the foundation for the home side’s improvement, their penetration came from Charles N’Zogbia, once he discovered he had the beating of Emiliano Insua on the right. The Argentinian left-back was the first of three Liverpool players to be booked in the opening 33 minutes for a foul on N’Zogbia. The supply line from N’Zogbia flowed, with the lone striker, Marcelo Moreno, close to scoring in front of an open goal after the winger had spun Insua inside the box and crossed hard and low from the right.
Hugo Rodallega wasted an inviting free-kick from 20 yards and though Dirk Kuyt combined with Yossi Benayoun to produce a decent opening for Gerrard, which Paul Scharner stifled with an excellent block tackle, the Latics continued to present the greater threat.
Their goal, however, owed much to Liverpool’s carelessness. Kuyt collected a throw-in deep inside his own half and for some reason that could not be blamed on the pitch, sent a dreadful pass straight to Emmerson Boyce. Wigan’s right-back suddenly transformed himself into Rivelinho, spraying a delightful cross with the outside of the foot over the visiting defence, and the unmarked Rodellega volleyed his first goal since Boxing Day – and Wigan’s first in 382 minutes of football – wide of the exposed José Reina.
The Colombian striker was presented with a clear opportunity to double Wigan’s advantage 42 seconds after the restart when McCarthy broke through a vast expanse of space down Liverpool’s left, not for the first time, and picked out Rodallega free on the far side. Wigan’s leading goalscorer took too long to consider his options and enabled Mascherano to block the shot when it came.
Torres squandered a decent chance of his own from a Rodríguez cut-back on the right and went agonisingly close with a late volley from Kuyt’s knockdown. Despite showing the urgency the situation
