West Brom 3, Wigan 1: Chris Lepkowski's big match verdict
AND so the wrestling continues. Old Man Hope has leaped into the ring, slipped on a life-like Tony Mowbray mask, placed the Grim Reaper in a headlock and blown a raspberry to the Championship.
And by Hope, I’m not talking about Bobby Hope either.
It’s the type of Hope that gives you optimism, but can end up biting you in the nether regions.
The Baggies should be down. They should be out. They should have a big ‘R’ next to their name.
What a crying shame that they face Liverpool in their next game. I won’t bore you with the head-to-head stats. You’ll know those already.
By then results might have conspired against Mowbray’s men. Equally, results might have thrown them the biggest lifeline since Geoff Horsfield and Kieran Richardson were in their pomp at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies were slick for long periods against Wigan. Not all the time, though.
Dean Kiely, in for his first Premier League game of the season, was outstanding. More of him later.
Albion took the lead when Chris Kirkland saved Gianni Zuiverloon’s eighth-minute shot but was unable to keep out Marc-Antoine Fortuné’s follow-up.
The Wigan keeper was forced to make way for Richard Kingson after hurting his back as he dived for Zuiverloon’s shot.
The visitors enjoyed their best period of dominance as they settled down following their poor opening.
Zuiverloon brought down Hugo Rodallega 20 yards from goal. The Colombian took the free-kick himself. It took a deflection off Chris Brunt and wrong-footed Kiely. The keeper got a touch, but the momentum of his dive prevented him from getting any presence in front of the ball as he re-adjusted to combat the deflection.
Kiely couldn’t be blamed. He had already produced one of the saves of the season when he kept out Paul Scharner’s shot before denying Olivier Kapo from point-blank range with his feet.
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