The Tigers secured a second home win of the Premier League campaign with a hard fought but deserved victory over Wigan Athletic. The visitors arrived in confident mood on the back of a terrific result against Chelsea but never looked good enough to do the same to a City side led by new club captain Nick Barmby. The team were in the skipper's image, hard-working, aggressive and with a bit of quality were it mattered.
The Gaffer
Phil Brown picked his 6th different back four in 8 league games. Selecting Kilbane at centre half wasn't that big of a gamble, he had two fine outings in the position at the end of last season. Zayatte playing defensive midfield was a braver decision. I was keen to see him there for a lot of last season but when he eventually played the position, he didn't pull up any trees. As a decision, it was probably made easier for PB by the fact that whoever has played the holding role so far this season has generally been poor. The other big decision was leaving Ghilas out for Barmby. It was obvious by the captaincy announcement that Nicky would be involved somewhere but I don't think many would have made the decision to axe Ghilas. It was a strong looking line-up though and certainly in midfield, it looked to have more bite and energy than we've had for a while. Tactically, we were spot on for the most part, applying lots of pressure high up the pitch, tackling aggressively and taking no chances at the back, even to the point of booting the ball clear when there was time to take it down. For a while in the first half, we gave up the pressing and sat deep in our half allowing Wigan to dominate possession. PB was visibly frustrated, desperate for us to push up closer to JVoH and cause Wigan more problems. It didn't happen until after half time when he obviously managed to get his message through to the players. Substitutions were much better today, taking the sting out of the game and giving us fresh legs in good areas.
The Defence
The back line looked much more comfortable today and that was in no small part to the improvement in midfield. We did a better job of cutting the ball out and winning headers in the middle which meant there wasn't as much to do at the back. We were able to keep a sensible line that meant Sonko and Kilbane wouldn't be exploited by pacy forwards. Most of the game was played in front of them and they made good solid tackles, for the most part, and won headers. Kilbane swiped at thin air twice, the first time Scotland shot just wide and the second time, he was helped out by a good challenge from Sonko. In the second quarter of the game when we dropped off, we closed any space in the middle of the pitch but allowed Wigan to have a spare man wide all of the time, which was the only time in the game that either full-back looked like being over-run. We dealt well with most balls into the box and reduced Wigan to a couple of hopeful shots. They had lots of possession but almost all of it was in non-threatening territory. In the second half, we picked things up again in midfield and were pretty comfortable at the back. The most dangerous moment came just before the opening goal when they got in behind and slid a ball across the 6 yard box that looked a goal for all the world until McShane made an excellent interception and the ball fell comfortably for Myhill. Their goal was a poor one to concede, with missed tackles aplenty before the ball fell for Gomez. Myhill pushed the shot out but Sinclair reacted quickest. Even after that though, with the announcement of 5 minutes of stoppage time, a massive onslaught was never really forthcoming.
The Middle
We won the game with our midfield performance in the second half. We'd started well, putting a lot of pressure on the ball, especially through Barmby and Marney but didn't quite get the rewards for that pressure, though we should have had a penalty early on for a clear handball in the box. That level of effort didn't appear to be sustainable and for 20 minutes before half time, we were struggling badly to get and keep the ball, though Zayatte was impressive throughout. A fizzing shot from Geo that dipped just over was as close as we came to a goal. We came out in the second half looking full of life again and, to a man, our midfield put in a terrific amount of work. Zayatte was superb, breaking up Wigan possession and launching attacks with his strong running and close control. He won the ball in the air, found great positions and put in tackles. He was a little slow to close them down when they did break through but did little else wrong. Marney and Hunt both worked hard off the ball but neither was as good as he can be in possession. Marney did win possession in some good areas and forced a couple of (comfortable) saves from Kirkland.
Barmby prompted and encouraged and led by example but wasn't able to influence the game as much as he'd like from the right hand side. Having a leader on the pitch helped though. Geo had probably his best all-round game in a City shirt. He was superb all over the pitch; he put in a proper midfield performance. He was good on the ball, scored a great goal and delivered some quality into the box. Without the ball, he worked really hard; he made tackles, he covered Zayatte, he tracked runs, he was just awesome.
The Front Line
Big Jan lead the line very well again. He's improving by the week. He wasn't able to make anything of the aimless crap we threw at him in the second quarter but when we started to put balls into him that he could get a hold of, he held it up quite well. His movement was better and he looked a bit more agile. His header was a terrific one, thumped into the ground, utterly unstoppable. Ghilas didn't have the impact he did in the Birmingham game. He couldn't quite control when Geo played a superb cross-field pass, otherwise he might have gone in to score a third.
At half time, I'm sure everyone feared a repeat of the Birmingham home game as we hadn't threatened enough and looked too content to watch Wigan play in front of us. The second half performance though was full of heart and we found the quality when it was needed. There are a lot of teams in the division on a similar points total so it's crucial that we build on this result. We've now won half our home games this season, which is encouraging given the dismal record of last season. What we need to do now is pick up points on the road again. Performances like this one will help in that regard. It should also help ease some pressure on PB, he got everything right today, long may that continue.
Ratings: Myhill 6, McShane 7, Dawson 7, Sonko 7, Kilbane 6, Barmby 7 (Ghilas), Zayatte 8 (Olofinjana), Marney 7, Geovanni 8, Hunt 6, Venegoor of Hesselink 7 (Mouyokolo).