Wigan held firm against Aston Villa
and managed to get back home with a point. In the first
half, both sides had chances to score while in the nd,
it was a one sided contest from the Villa side who created
numerous chances but failed to convert due to some life
saving tackles and scambles from the Wigan defense.
Mido played the full match and did well as the target
man. He held the ball well under pressure and won many
headers. However, he couldn't get into good positions
to score.
In absence of his striking partner Amr
Zaki, Mido started alone at front in Wigan's difficult
away clash with Aston Villa. The game ended in a 0-0
draw which is a good result for the Latics who lost
at home to Villa a couple of months ago.
Wigan handled Villa pressure well and
were lucky at times as well. Their defenders Scharner
and Boyce did extremely well to scramble many dangerous
balls off the line and in front of Agbonlahor. On the
other hand, Wigan's wide play was almost nonexistent
due to the absence of Valencia. Their penetration from
the middle wasn't better though as Brown and Lee Cattermole
lacked the creativity.
Mido was isolated at front without service
from the wings or midfield and so, he had to go deep
and wide to get the ball, he also retreated alot to
defend freekicks and dead ball situations. In the 2nd
half, Rodalega came on to assist Mido in attack but
he didn't add much as Villa put Wigan at much pressure
at that time.
Due to this, the Egyptian international
had a single attempt on goal in the 2nd half but it
lacked both power and placement and went straight into
the arms of the goalkeeper Freidel.
The danger on Freidel came through midfielders and defenders
who assisted Mido in attack. De Ridder had a shot which
was turned away by Freidel in the first half while the
centre back Boyce powered a header who was tipped away
for a corner by the Villa keeper as well.
On the other hand, Speedy Agbonlahor was
kept quite by Wigan defense. He almost scored from close
range though but Boyce blocked his path. The last quarter
of the game also witnessed many scrambles and off the
line clearences by Wigan defense to end the game in
a lucky 0-0 draw.
With this draw, Wigan kept their 7th spot
in the table. They are still ahead by goals difference
of West Ham who also held Arsenal to a goal-less draw
on the same day.
