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.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set