Watson keeps Tigers in trouble

Ben Watson's winner for Wigan leaves Hull City looking nervously over their shoulders after losing 1-0.

Lactics go seventh; Tigers remain four points from drop zone

Ben Watson's winner for Wigan leaves Hull City looking nervously over their shoulders after losing 1-0 at the JJB Stadium on Sunday. Watson's 84th minute volley was his second goal in a week and it proved the difference as the Latics did their European prospects the world of good. Steve Bruce's outfit bossed the first-half and should have gone ahead with Mido squandered the best of the home side's chances. Hull came out the traps much better in the second half, with Manucho going close, but Phil Brown's Tigers slumped to defeat after conceding late on and remain four points clear of the dreaded drop zone. Wigan, meanwhile, move up three places to seventh ahead of West Ham on goal difference and stay in the hunt for a place in next season's UEFA Europa League.

Early pattern

The pattern of play was established in the second minute when Charles N'Zogbia's long-range cross-shot had Matt Duke back-pedalling - and he only just managed to tip the ball over with the help of the bar and post. When Dean Marney was robbed by Michael Brown from a Hull corner Wigan launched a swift counter-attack which saw N'Zogbia drill a pass across the six-yard area, the fingertips of Duke preventing Watson getting a touch. Watson also forced Duke into a low save with a 25-yard shot in the 12th minute. Mido was next to squander a chance after Hugo Rodallega and Paul Scharner, making his 100th Premier League appearance, had exchanged quick passes to bypass the Hull midfield. Scharner won a free-kick 20 yards out when Sam Ricketts pulled him down - a foul for which he was booked - but Rodallega curled his shot straight at Duke. Mido fired over again from six yards after Scharner had out-jumped the defence to head Maynor Figueroa's long ball down to Rodallega. The Colombia striker should have done better moments later, having raced on to Scharner's through ball with only the goalkeeper to beat - but Duke half-saved and then turned Scharner's follow-up for a corner. Hull were forced to make a substitution in the 38th minute when the injured Andy Dawson was replaced by Richard Garcia. It meant a reshuffle - with Ricketts switching sides, Bernard Mendy dropping to right-back and Garcia playing in front of him. Mendy's first act as a defender was to be booked for a waist-high challenge on N'Zogbia in the centre-circle.

N'Zogbia injury

The Wigan midfielder was forced off after a crunching challenge with Kamil Zayatte in first-half injury time and was replaced after the interval by Daniel de Ridder. Having spent long periods with little to do, Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland had to be alert to tip over Manucho's flashed header from Marney's 50th-minute corner. Titus Bramble dived in at Garcia on the edge of the penalty area and was booked. But Wigan managed to clear former Wigan midfielder Kevin Kilbane's inswinging free-kick, before Craig Fagan was then cautioned for an unnecessary challenge on De Ridder. Zayatte lasted just 15 minutes of the second half before being replaced by another Wigan old boy Caleb Folan, resulting in another defensive reshuffle. Yet another chance went begging when Watson drilled a shot into the side-netting from the left corner of the penalty area - before substitute Amr Zaki rose highest in a crowd to head De Ridder's cross against the foot of a post with Duke beaten. But the goal finally came in the 84th minute, partly thanks to a mistake from Duke. The goalkeeper's weak punch did not get out of the penalty area - and when the ball dropped Watson looped a volley over Duke and in at the far post, despite Kilbane's best efforts to keep it out. It was the former Crystal Palace midfielder's second goal in a week, after opening his account scoring in the 2-1 victory at Sunderland, and could not have come at a more timely moment with Wigan looking to have run out of ideas.

Wigan Athletic	Team Statistics	Hull City
1	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
6	Shots on Target	1
11	Shots off Target	6
2	Blocked Shots	1
5	Corners	4
17	Fouls	13
0	Offsides	1
1	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
70.8	Passing Success	64.4
30	Tackles	19
70	Tackles Success	73.7
49.8	Possession	50.2
53.6	Territorial Advantage	46.4