It was a bright start from the Latics who made Blackburn look like the ordinary set piece side that they are. However a twenty five minute blip has left Martinez with just one Christmas point rather than the three he was hoping for.
Sam Allardyce and his teams are 100% predictable. Aside from Benni McCarthy, there was very little true quality in this Rovers outfit who relied very heavily on the aerial prowess of Nzonzi and Samba.
True to form, a mid-half switch off from the Latics let in Alalrdyce's side for one of the simplest goals they'll ever score. A typical long ball free-kick was flicked on before McCarthy duly despatched goalwards.
The game was never going to be pretty. Rovers, as with Bolton under Allardyce, seemed insistent on slowing the game down, playing hopeful long balls, and employing foul tactics.
Both Givet and Salgado were lucky to remain on the pitch after a number of fouls, and in particular Salgado's embarrasing dive and subsequent collapse.
Martinez should have known what to expect from Blackburn. Whenever his side managed to string a set of passes together, they looked dangerous. The only problem was this didn't happen often enough. For all the huff and puff in the first half, there was little outcome, with only Charles N'Zogbia offering any real threat.
The second half was much the opposite. Jason Scotland dropped back from the frotnline into the attacking midfield role, with Gomez moved on to the wing and Rodallega taking up the frontman position.
With Spanish words ringing in their ears, the Latics players started to look more Barcelona than the first half Bognor Regis. They started to dominate the possession and started to look dangerous.
Gomez has really grown into his Wigan shirt and despite his obvious defensive frailties, he was beginning to pull the strings in an attacking sense and the Latics probed for a hole in the Rovers defence.
Eventually the door was beaten down and Rodallega as he headed N'Zogbia's cross into the top corner of Robinson's net.
The real focus for Martinez must be to sure up the defence and the attacking side of his team is starting to take shape. A return to the impenetrable defence of last season, complimented by the flowing attack that we are starting to see will surely see a rise up the table.
Here are the thoughts of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
I think we were not happy with our first-half performance. We dropped our standards. Our second half was much better. We created enough chances to win the game. To concede from a set-piece was disappointing. Overall it's about the second half. The reaction was there. Very pleased with the reaction and we'll build on that. Today we started poorly, the first half was not up to our standards and we finished the game really strongly and that's going to help us in future. Overall the way we finished the game, we had enough chances to score a second goal, was pleasing. It's a very busy period as we all know. It's halfway through the season and everyone will be ready. The way we finished the game was how we need to start games.
Sam Allardyce
I was pleased with the performance. But disappointed that we've not managed to secure all three points on the amount of chances we've created.
We let a winning position slip, but then we had enough chances to get back into the winning position towards the end of the game.
But sadly we've not got the rub of the green, that little bit of lady luck going in our favour so we ended up drawing instead of winning.
We had chances to go two up but didn't take it, and when they put a bit of pressure we cracked and they scored. We went astray for five to ten minutes but then took control again and went looking for the winner.
That was very pleasing, there was Benni's chance, Keith Andrews' shot looked like it was going in, Chris Samba's header was cleared off the line. So like I said, I'm pleased with the performance but disappointed with the result.
The table
| Latest match Saturday, 26th December 2009 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 19 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 10 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 43 | 15 | 42 | +28 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 37 | 17 | 37 | +20 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 17 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 44 | 20 | 35 | +24 | ||||
| 4 | Aston Villa | 18 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 29 | 14 | 35 | +15 | ||||
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 19 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 40 | 22 | 34 | +18 | ||||
| 6 | Manchester City | 18 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 35 | 27 | 32 | +8 | ||||
| 7 | Birmingham City | 19 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 18 | 29 | +1 | ||||
| 8 | Liverpool | 18 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 34 | 25 | 27 | +9 | ||||
| 9 | Fulham | 18 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 17 | 27 | +6 | ||||
| 10 | Sunderland | 19 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 26 | 29 | 22 | -3 | ||||
| 11 | Stoke City | 18 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 21 | -7 | ||||
| 12 | Blackburn Rovers | 19 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 33 | 20 | -15 | ||||
| 13 | Burnley | 19 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 22 | 38 | 20 | -16 | ||||
| 14 | Everton | 18 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 32 | 19 | -8 | ||||
| 15 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 18 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 31 | 19 | -14 | ||||
| 16 | Wigan Athletic | 18 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 39 | 19 | -18 | ||||
| 17 | West Ham United | 19 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 35 | 18 | -7 | ||||
| 18 | Bolton Wanderers | 17 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 34 | 17 | -10 | ||||
| 19 | Hull City | 18 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 37 | 17 | -20 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth | 19 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 17 | 28 | 14 | -11 | ||||
Next game
An easy trip to Old Trafford for the Latics on Wednesday 30th December as Martinez hopes to continue his good form against the big four. Never an easy game but hopefully Momo Diame will be available for selection.