Wigan Athletic climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers at the DW Stadium yesterday.
Roberto Martinez’s side desperately needed a win after a poor start to the season and they were given a helping hand when Wolves captain Karl Henry was sent off early in the first half for a reckless challenge on Jordi Gomez.
The hosts made Henry pay for that mistake as Gomez struck in the second half, before Hugo Rodallega added the clincher late on.
Mick McCarthy’s team have now suffered four successive defeats, allowing Wigan to climb out of the relegation zone at the expense of their opponents.
Wigan had to play several minutes without captain Antolin Alcaraz in the early stages as he left the pitch to receive stitches in a head wound, but it was Wolves who went down to 10 men permanently when referee Lee Mason showed Henry a red card for a foul on Gomez that caught the Spaniard on his shin.
Although they had the numerical advantage, Wigan initially struggled to take advantage and the home fans began to show their frustration when Franco Di Santo was unable to get on the end of Charles N’Zogbia’s cross.
Wigan were close to taking the lead early in the second half when a fine move between Rodallega and Di Santo left the Argentine just 6m from goal, but Di Santo scuffed his shot just enough to allow Marcus Hahnemann to get a hand to the ball.
Martinez’s men finally broke the deadlock in the 65th minute when Dave Edwards pulled back N’Zogbia on the edge of the area. Gomez took the free-kick and curled a superb effort into the top-left corner.
In the 85th minute, Rodallega put the result beyond doubt when Christophe Berra’s attempt to cut out N’Zogbia’s pass deflected off the striker’s foot and past goalkeeper Hahnemann.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later