Wigan Athletic 1-0 Liverpool

Wigan Athletic 1-0 Liverpool

Hugo Rodallega seriously dented Rafa Benitez's and Liverpool's Champions League hopes by condemning them to their ninth League defeat of the season with a close range volley as makeshift right back and Argentina captain Javier Mascherano could only stand and stare.

Roberto Martinez will be delighted as he saw his side pick up their first win in the league in 13 attempts which moved his side four points clear of the relegation zone to the delight of all but 4000 fans in the noisy D.W Stadium.

However it was Liverpool who threatened first as the returning Fernando Torres sliced a volley onto the post following a corner. It seemed like Liverpool were going to continue the game in their dominative way until Charles N'Zogbia started to exert his influence on the game. His pace and direct running was causing Insua all sorts of problems, the first of which came in the 13th minute as he turned his marker in the box before fizzing in a right footed cross which only evaded Marcelo Moreno by a whisker.

It was N'Zogbia again who shrugged off both Insua and Carragher to break into the box, only to see his pull back hacked away. However it was Wigan who were in the ascendancy, and it was the Frenchman, who will be cleared to play for England this week, who was at the heart of their good counter attacking football.

The pace of the game was furious as both sides were chaotically competing in midfield but neither side could find that elusive final ball, which was perhaps the reason why neither side had scored a goal in the Barclays Premiership in their last 3 games. However Wigan were coming closer as N'Zogbia whipped in a fierce left footed cross which Mascherano took off the head of Rodallega.

But Liverpool did not heed the warning as 30 seconds later the ball was in the back of the net after a sloppy pass from Dirk Kuyt gave Boyce the chance to deliver a right footed cross which found the unmarked Rodallega who volleyed past a helpless Reina into the Liverpool net, sending the Latics fans into dreamland.

After the break everyone expected a Liverpool onslaught as they attacked the end where their travelling fans were housed, but it never came as Wigan continued to carry a huge threat on the break with the movement of Moreno, N'Zogbia and Rodallega causing the back four of Liverpool lots of problems as Moreno saw a long range shot saved before heading over the bar from a corner.

Fernando Torres who had cut an increasingly isolated figure as the game went on,was becoming increasingly frustrated with Gary Caldwell in particular snuffing out any chances the Spaniard had. On one of the few occasions Liverpool did work the ball well, with Maxi Rodriguez and Insua linking up before Insua delivered a teasing cross into the box which Kuyt headed down for the unmarked Torres, only for him to spoon his volley wide of Chris Kirkland's in a chance you'd expect one of the world's greatest strikers to gobble up for fun.

Benitez and his team face Portsmouth next in a game that must be won in order for Liverpool to have any chance of finishing in those Champions League spots, but by passing up a glorious opportunity tonight, they have handed their rivals a game in hand to open up some breathing space between the Merseysiders and themselves.

Ratings

Wigan: Kirkland 6, Boyce 7, Caldwell 8, Bramble 7, Figueroa 7, Diame 7, McCarthy 7, N'Zogbia 9, Scharner 7, Rodallega 8, Moreno 7. Subs: Moses 6, Scotland 6, Thomas 6

Liverpool: Reina 7, Mascherano 7, Carragher 6, Kyrgiakos 6, Insua 6, Lucas 5, Gerrard 5, Maxi 5, Kuyt 4, Benayoun 6, Torres 4. Subs: Johnson 5, Aquilani 5, Babel 6.

Man Of the Match: Charles N'Zogbia