Sport Cafe

by Graham Chase

Filed under: Everton, Wigan, Premier League, Football, Match Reports

Apostolos Vellios and Royston Drenthe scored late goals to end Everton's wait for a first home victory of the season against Roberto Martinez's Wigan. The visitors took the lead when Franco Di Santo's scruffy effort beat Tim Howard, only for Phil Jagielka to equalise just two minutes later. THE GOALS 31 mins: Di Santo collects a short corner and turns Leon Osman before hitting a deflected shot inside the far post (0-1). 33 mins: Osman's corner is headed on to the bar by Tim Cahill before Jagielka heads in the follow up (1-1). 84 mins: Vellios heads in from a Tony Hibbert cross to seal the points for Everton. 90 mins: Drenthe races on to a Vellios flick to add Everton's third. Tweeter Facebook FourSquare iPhone OTHER HIGHLIGHTS 3 mins: Jack Rodwell shoots wide from just outside the area. 6 mins: Leighton Baines crosses from the left and Seamus Coleman's header is turned wide by Ali Al Habsi. 10 mins: Di Santo drives well wide from 30 yards after a quick Wigan break. 25 mins: Osman curls a shot over from 20 yards as Everton continue to press. 29mins: Coleman picks out Marouane Fellaini but the Belgian's close-range effort is blocked by Cahill. 35 mins: Baines misses with a free kick from just outside the area. 45 mins: Cahill heads over from a hanging Hibbert cross. 47 mins: Coleman's dangerous cross is deflected wide of goal. 61 mins: Hugo Rodallega is well off target with a free kick from 25 yards. 73 mins: Patrick van Aanholt's shot is deflected wide with Howard stranded. 85 mins: David Jones hits the bar as Wigan look for another quick equaliser. REACTION: David Moyes was relatively pleased with the contribution of his substitutes: "If you judge them on goals I would have said 'Great' but the performance, 'no'. We needed to try something and we just ran out of ideas midway through the second half and we were looking for solutions to see how we could cause Wigan some more problems." On signing Vellios from Iraklis for £50,000 in January "I don't take credit for it. Docherty got me Seamus Coleman for £60,000 and the Greek boy for less than that so I have to give him the credit for that. "If the scout's really think they're worthwhile then we bring them in. It's a lot for us to expect these boys to be Premier League players and it's very few you can turn intot that. "Thankfully the one or two we've got have given us some competition, I think the Greek boy has got something. He's got a bit to do yet but he's certainly got something. "He recommended the two players. Those two boys, because of the price one was £50,000 or £60,000." On starting with Cahill and Osman in attack: "That tells you a little bit about what we think because we are starting with Cahill and Osman because they've still got something to offer. "They got between the lines and caused problems. We know we're short. We don't have someone at the moment who is a 15 or 20 goal a season centre forward but the ones that have come on have given us something to think about." On collecting seven points from three games: "I'm not going to get carried away. People always talk about the start but I don't when the 'start of the season' is over. We've got a couple of wins, we can play better and we have played better but I think it was an important game to win because I've said before we have to make sure we get the wins and go from there." On Louis Saha tweeting about his frustration at being left out: "He wasn't in the 18 and I like it when they're upset when they're not involved. I've got no problem with that at all. "Everybody reports for the game and then we tell them the subs, they knew the team. "I don't know whether he went home and I'm not really that bothered. I was more interested in the 11 players and that's what everyone should have been concentrating on." Martinez expects to be without Rodallega for several months: "It's really too early to say. We're going to assess him but I think it's going to be the medial ligament in his right knee. We're going to do the scans but it isn't good at the moment. He looked sharp. "He took time after the Copa America to get back to his level and he's looked back to his level so that will be a real blow. "In our football club any player not available is a real blow. We had Emmerson Boyce and Antolin Alcaraz missing, as well as Steve Gohouri, and that is a big hole in the squad. "When someone with the experience of Hugo Rodallega who has been scoring an average of 10 goals a season and it is a real blow but in football those things happen. "It's a real blow to lose someone of his status and stature." On his team's performance: "You come place like Goodison and you have to deal with two basic things -- the height in set-plays at the way they attack them and then just the crosses. "Apart from the two where we were heavily punished, we controlled the game, we felt comfortable. We had a couple of good opportunities. "It was one of those days where you don't get the result the performance deserves. "Ninety per cent of our performance was what we wanted and that little 10 per cent, not stopping two crosses from the right back. I feel that we got heavily punished. "If we played this game 10 times we'd get something out of it in nine of them." WHAT IT MEANS: Everton can breathe a little easier after collecting seven points from three games but Moyes concedes that his attack is still a work in progress. More of a problem than the defeat for Wigan, will be coping without the threat of Rodallega for much of the season. The Columbian has been their main striker for the past two years and will take some replacing. EVERTON 3 (Jagielka 33, Vellios 84, Drenthe 90) WIGAN 1 (Di Santo 31) PLAYER MARKING: Everton (4-4-2): Howard 7; Hibbert 7, Jagielka 9, Distin 7, Baines 8; Coleman 7 (Vellios 67, 8), Rodwell 8, Fellaini 6, Bilyaletdinov 7 (Drenthe 59, 6); Cahill 7 (Stracqualursi 83, 6), Osman 7. Subs (not used): Mucha, Heitinga, Neville, Barkley. Wigan (4-2-3-1): Al Hasbi 7; Lopez 6, Caldwell 7, Figueroa 6, Van Aanholt 8; Watson 7, McCarthy 7; Gomez 5 (Jones 71, 6), Moses 6, Rodallega 5 (Maloney 90, 6); Di Santo 7. Subs (not used): Pollitt, Thomas, Crusat, McArthur, Sammon. REFEREE: Peter Walton ATTENDANCE: 31,576

 

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