Wigan punish ten-man Chelsea

Wigan provided one of the shocks of the season as they crushed ten-man Chelsea 3-1 at the DW Stadium.

Cech sees red as Wigan run out 3-1 winners

Wigan provided one of the shocks of the season as they crushed ten-man Chelsea 3-1 at the DW Stadium. Petr Cech saw red in an explosive start to the second half which saw Chelsea equalise before immediately conceding a penalty, won and dispatched by Hugo Rodallega. Chelsea had won each of their six games so far this season and only this week were being labelled as almost unbeatable, a tag which manager Carlos Ancelotti rebuffed. Titus Bramble opened the scoring on 16 minutes when he headed home unmarked from around eight yards when Charles N'Zogbia delivered after a short corner. The Latics held on until half-time and perhaps should have taken advantage of some suspect Chelsea defending as Emmerson Boyce shot straight at Cech from inside the six yard box. Chelsea began the second half with great urgency and were level on 47 minutes as Didier Drogba steered a Florent Malouda cross past Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal. Wigan were back in front soon after when Cech brought down Rodallega inside the area after the Colombian raced through on goal. Malouda was sacrificed as Henrique Hilario came on to replace Cech in the Chelsea goal but he was sent the wrong way by Rodallega, who picked himself up to drill home the penalty. Chelsea were unable to regain control of the game as play resumed and after using all three subs, they were reduced to nine men after Ashley Cole was unable to continue in injury time. The away side were massively exposed as they desperately searched for an equaliser and Paul Scharner capitalised when he poked home from a yard out after great wing play by Maynor Figueroa a minute into added time.

Chances

Chelsea carved out a string of chances before Wigan took the lead against the run of play. They almost made the breakthrough after two minutes when Ashley Cole cut the ball back to Michael Essien. The midfielder got a good connection from 25 yards but Kirkland turned his effort around the post. Chelsea kept up the pace and Malouda released Nicolas Anelka three minutes later but he sent his shot wide of the post. Malouda was then bowled over by Scharner and Frank Lampard tested Kirkland by driving in the free-kick. Wigan again found themselves on the back foot after 11 minutes when Cole picked out Lampard but his effort went wide of the post. The home side responded and Jason Scotland forced a good block from Cech in the 15th minute. Chelsea were stunned a minute later when Wigan took the lead after some slack defending. Bramble got away from his marker and sent his header into corner following a cross from N'Zogbia for his first goal of the season. Chelsea hit back and Malouda got on the end of a ball from Cole but his touch was poor in the 22nd minute and Kirkland was able to make the clearance. Wigan were playing with plenty of spirit and N'Zogbia whipped in a free-kick in the 26th minute that Cech gathered low down. This was a good spell by the home side and Scharner clipped a shot over the bar three minutes later after Scotland had carved out the opening. Then Rodallega spotted Scotland in a good position but put too much weight on the pass and Cech gathered the loose ball. Scotland was causing the visitors problems and had the ball taken of his toes by John Terry in the 38th minute as he prepared to shoot.

Second period

Chelsea, however, needed only two minutes of the second period to draw level with Kirkland left red-faced. The Wigan goalkeeper allowed a soft shot from Drogba to squirm through his legs following a surging run from Malouda. Chelsea almost took the lead in the 50th minute, only for Scharner to block Terry's effort after Ricardo Carvalho's flick-on. The game took a dramatic turn a minute later when Cech was given a straight red card for tripping Rodallega as he raced into the area. Cech was incensed at the decision and so were his team-mates as a penalty was awarded. Hilario stepped between the posts and his first job was to pick the ball out of the net with Rodallega converting his spot-kick. It left Chelsea a goal down and playing with 10 men for the last 37 minutes of the match. Wigan were not content to sit on their lead and Rodallega floated a free-kick from 25 yards narrowly over the bar in the 76th minute after Cole had barged over N'Zogbia. Chelsea almost drew level eight minutes later only for Lampard to see his header clear the bar following a cross from Drogba. They were getting frustrated, however, and Essien was booked for a challenge on Scharner which left him on the floor in the 86th minute. Chelsea went down to nine men with Cole going off injured and Scharner scored Wigan's third goal in stoppage-time following a cross from Figueroa.

Wigan Athletic	Team Statistics	Chelsea
3	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	0
10	Shots on Target	2
6	Shots off Target	8
0	Blocked Shots	6
4	Corners	7
12	Fouls	15
4	Offsides	3
1	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	1
72.3	Passing Success	75.4
19	Tackles	21
68.4	Tackles Success	90.5
47.3	Possession	52.7
53.6	Territorial Advantage	46.4