📰 Blackburn Rovers 0 - 0 Wigan Athletic : Match Review
Wigan Athletic travelled to Ewood Park on Monday Night to face Blackburn Rovers in the Sky Bet Championship. Shaun Maloney led his side out for the first time and picked up a well-deserved point.
The latest new era is up and running already with our first point under Shaun Maloney, and it was well-deserved too, especially after all the challenges we faced throughout the 90 minutes.
Three debuts, four if you include the Gaffer, 2 injuries, 1 point, and 0 goals scored. Overall it was a great evening for us to get back on track on our path to survival. Let’s dive into how the game unfolded, but before we begin, you can read all about the match preview via the link below:
Team Selection
Maloney’s first teamsheet featured 6 changes from the 2-0 defeat to Luton Town, with three of our new signings handed their debuts.
Ben Amos remained in between the sticks, with Jack Whatmough supporting Martin Kelly and Omar Rekik in their first game at the back, the latter also debuting in the Championship.
Tendayi Darikwa took the Captain’s armband again, after coming in for former Rovers right back, Ryan Nyambe, with James McClean taking the LWB position after becoming a father for the fourth time earlier on in the day.
With Miguel Azeez suspended from this game, due to raising a flare that was thrown onto the field in the late equaliser at Cardiff City, Maloney selected a midfield duo of Max Power and Christ Tiéhi.
Our forward line featured Will Keane, who sits on 10 Championship goals this season, and he was supported by Callum Lang and Danel Sinani, the latter also debuting for the Latics.
On the bench, Latics named; Jamie Jones, Ryan Nyambe, Tom Pearce, Steven Caulker, Tom Naylor, Thelo Aasgaard and Charlie Wyke.
Wyke and Pearce were named back in the squad after both dealing with lengthy injuries.
First Half
As the game got underway under the lights of Ewood Park, both sides fought early on to find their first sight at goal. After some pinball style heading deep in Rovers half, Bradley Dack released Ben Brereton-Diaz down the Rovers left, with Amos getting down well to deny the Chilean in the one-on-one effort and Kelly quickly clearing the danger.
Wigan’s first shot on target came after 15 minutes with Rekik taking the ball inside Rovers’ half to send a long ball up to Keane. Although the Irishman was beaten in the air, the ball dropped to Danel Sinani outside the area to unleash a shot, however, it was a comfortable save overall for Aynsley Pears.
I noticed early on that Rekik was looking so confident at LCB as was using the space in front of him to run into. This caused McClean to push further up field and applied pressure to the Rovers back line that pinned them back at times.
Lang must have been watching Shaun Maloney compilations on YouTube this week of his goal against Manchester United, as just before the half-hour mark, he picked the ball up left of the Rovers area, cut inside, and drilled a long-range shot just narrowly over the bar. I’m sure there was a nod of approval from the Gaffer on the sidelines after that.
Three minutes until the half, and Amos was forced into another ground save as Sorba Thomas was found in space on the right of our area. The shot parred out for a corner, which nothing came from in the end.
Second Half
Neither side made any substitutions at halftime, and Maloney’s side returned to the field in front of the 2,766 traveling fans.
Rekik continued to impress early on, after a driving run forward, battling hard for the ball, and taking a shot from outside the box after finding space. Narrowly wide, but the Tunisian Centre Back looks genuinely brilliant and fearless. It is a real shame that just three minutes later, he went down with a muscle injury and was unable to continue. Tom Pearce made his way onto the field, with his first Championship minutes since a one-minute cameo against Preston North-End on the opening day of the season.
The hosts also made two substitutions of their own, just after the hour mark, with forward Jack Vale and midfielder John Buckley coming off for Sam Gallagher and Tyler Morton respectively.
Latics had the ball in the net following a James McClean corner being diverted goalbound by Martin Kelly at the back post, however, the referee ruled it out after a collision between Lang and Pears on the line.
Hayden Carter became the first name in the referee’s caution book, after bringing down Lang on the left-hand side of the area, however, Power sent the ball high over the cross bar from the free kick. I can’t help but feel Thelo Aasgaard would be a good free kick taker and should be given the opportunity in dangerous positions like this.
Latics were forced into another injury substitution after 75 minutes, as Martin Kelly went down with a knee injury. Maloney has confirmed to BBC Sport Manchester that "his injury doesn’t look good at all. I hope that changes in the next couple of days. Devastated for him. We bought him as a leader off the pitch, we saw what he can do on it, but he’s been brilliant the last week. Devastated for him..”. A cruel twist on the night with both debut centre backs coming off injured.
Rovers made their final two changes with 10 minutes to go, with Bradley Dack and Sorba Thomas coming off for Sam Szmodics and Ryan Hedges. The hosts also saw Brereton-Diaz in the book moments later for dragging down Power deep inside the Rovers half.
James McClean mistimed a tackle in the dying moments, causing Joe Rankin-Costello to get upset and cause a scene. Both players booked after a coming together.
Latics survived a huge scare at the end as Whatmough tumbled to the ground after being caught wrong-footed by Harry Pickering, clearing him out in the area but the referee waved play on. Lucky.
The Stats
Blackburn Rovers 0 - 0 Wigan Athletic
Possession: 56% - 44%
Shots: 9 - 11
Shots on Target: 3 - 1
Total Passes: 444 - 350
Passing Accuracy: 79% - 75%
Offsides: 1 - 1
Corners: 7 - 7
Yellow Cards: 3 (Carter 70’, Brereton-Diaz 84’, Rankin-Costello 88;) - 1 (McClean 88’)
My Final Thoughts
Coming into this game, I said that I was not sure what to expect at Ewood Park, but that I was excited at the thought of a “new manager bounce”. Whilst we may not have achieved my prediction of a 2-1 Latics victory, I was delighted with the performance that we saw and glad to see us pick up a draw and a clean sheet.
The three debuts really impressed me, it is just a shame that we lost both to injuries. Omar Rekik will be assessed over the coming days and could be in line for Huddersfield on Saturday, however, if not, then we are told it should not be a long stint out of action. Martin Kelly is being assessed, and it is likely that he will face weeks out at the very least. Danel Sinani played well, but there is no doubt that he will be a key player for us when he tidies up his play and understands the attacking system Maloney wants us to play with.
Shaun Maloney told BBC Sport Manchester that “if anything, I thought that we could have been more aggressive when we were attacking, but I think that will come. The biggest thing has to be the mentality, not to get beat today.” I cannot disagree with that from the Gaffer. The mentality of the players looked so positive all game, we looked aware of our surroundings, and after looking so defensively naïve under Kolo Touré, I felt that we can take more positives than negatives from this game.
Onto the next.
Next Up
Wigan Athletic return to the DW Stadium on Saturday 11th February to face Huddersfield Town in a 3:00pm kickoff.
Podcasts
Up the Tics.
Thank you for reading!
Charlie Keegan / Central Wigan
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