Wigan Athletic vs. Millwall - The Match Report

Wigan Athletic vs. Millwall

Date: Tuesday 8th April 2014

Venue: The DW Stadium

Referee: Keith Hill

Score: 0-1

A much changed Wigan Athletic side were woeful against a struggling Millwall side who are on the brink of relegation.

Ipswich loanee Carlos Edwards saw his shot deflected into the net after twenty-two minutes and that was enough to seal victory for the lions.

Uwe Rosler made eight changes to his starting eleven and he can be forgiven for having the F.A. Cup semi-final against Arsenal on his mind.

The Latics started slowly and this is how it stayed for ninety minutes. Wigan were sloppy in possession and produced very little in the final third of the field. The Wigan faithful were therefore not surprised went Edwards ran the ball from the halfway line to the edge of the box, shot, and scored.

The shot took a huge deflection off Leon Barnett and it looped up and over Scott Carson but the defending leading up to the shot just wasn’t good enough. James McClean failed to close Edwards down quickly enough and Barnett stood off the Millwall man, allowing him the opportunity to take a shot.

After the break, Wigan attempted to push up on the well organised Millwall side and their best chance came as Jean Beausejour pulled the ball back for Jack Collison, who lined up his shot before curling the ball just wide of the post.

With just minutes remaining, Millwall almost doubled their lead as they broke on Wigan and Scott Malone saw a pile-driver saved by Carson. The Latics’ keeper then had to parry the ball off the line from Steve Morison.

Wigan weren’t at their best on Tuesday evening and this is obviously because of the small matter of an F.A. Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday. Rosler made several changes in key areas of the field and he ended the game with no wingers on the pitch. This omission of the wingers gave the Latics very little width and they just weren’t threatening when they were attacking Millwall.

The make-shift midfield looked as though they had never played with each other before whilst Nick Powell, when he came on, offered nothing and looked very casual on the ball. He lacks the fight and determination that is needed from a Wigan player.

Wigan will be looking to play a stronger side at the weekend in order to play better and pull of another F.A. Cup shock against the Gunners.