Wigan Res 0 Liverpool Res 3 (Sep 19 2007)

[TLW]

Wigan Res 0 LIVERPOOL RES 3

Report by Pete Schulz at the JJB Stadium

Scorer(s) Jordy Brouwer, Nabil El Zhar, Ray Putterill Half Time – 0-1 Venue – JJB Stadium, Wigan Date - Wed 19 Sep 2007 Star Man – Sebastian Leto

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sebastian Leto put in a solid performance as Liverpool reserves beat their Wigan counterparts 3-0 on Wednesday night. Just as the rest of the country was getting ready to watch Arsenal and Manchester United do the nation proud (unlike Liverpool and Chelsea) over a thousand fans at the JJB Stadium saw Gary Ablett’s side, lead by the dangerous Argentinian, destroy their hosts in a one sided affair.

Despite the arrival of God knows how many new faces (can anyone keep track anymore?) only three of them – the promising Mikel San Jose and Damien Plessis and aforementioned Sebastian Leto – had made it into the starting eleven. Two of the new Hungarians weren’t even in the squad, although keeper Peter Gulacsi made the bench.

The reds dominated from the first whistle and within a couple of minutes had already threatened the Wigan goal twice after neat some wing play. The opener arrived as early as the fifth minute when fullback Stephen Darby crossed from the right towards the back post. Craig Lindfield rose like a salmon to head across goal where Dutch forward Jordy Brouwer, who arrived in January, was on hand to score his first reserve league goal for the club from about half a yard.

In the next minute, however, Wigan could have been level when Mikel San Jose slipped with the ball at his feet. This allowed his opponent (no idea who, but let’s just call him no. 10) to nip in and steal the ball, but his long range effort went wide of David Martin’s goal.

The reds kept creating chances throughout the half and it never looked like the goals had dried up. Leto and El Zhar changed wings a couple of times to add to the confusion in a Wigan backline that, at times, was all over the place.

Leto especially, looks threatening at pace with the ball at his feet, and he gave the fullbacks a torrid time all night. On the opposite flank El Zhar was a bit more hit and miss, but he did show good touches and some flashes of brilliance.

The most entertaining moment of the half came, however, when Jordy Brouwer collided with the referee just outside the Wigan box and both had to receive treatment. Disappointingly, the referee – unlike Brouwer – did not have to wait for an official to wave him back on when play had resumed.

The second half saw much of the same even though the tempo went down slightly. At the back, San Jose and Hobbs were rarely put under pressure, and Martin had only a couple of long range efforts to deal with. On this evidence, Mikel San Jose is a very composed and calm defender, and Hobbs was just Hobbs. No nonsense, but definitely benefiting from his season in midfield the year before last. Their two fullbacks both performed solidly as well.

Further forward Damien Plessis and Jay Spearing dominated the midfield and Craig Lindfield was busy as ever up front and was constantly making dangerous runs on the edge of offside. Brouwer, despite his goal, still looks a little off the pace, I must admit.

The second goal arrived just after the hour mark when Sebastian Leto powered his way through on the left and put a great cross onto the back post where Jay Spearing headed it down to Brouwer. His effort was blocked, but the ball fell to El Zhar who chested it down, took one touch and fired it under Mike Pollitt to double the lead.

Then came Ablett’s substitutions. Brouwer, Plessis and El Zhar went off within 9 minutes and they were replaced by Ryan Flynn, Ray Putterill and Ryan Crowther.

And it was one of them, Ray Putterill who benefited from more brilliant play by the Argentinian left winger. Again Leto reached the byline and his low cross, which was fired in with pace, was collected by the substitute who then couldn’t miss with his second touch. He made it three from about seven yards.

And even after that there was more goalmouth action as Lindfield picked up a good ball from Putterill, but his right foot curler crashed off the bottom of Pollitt’s far post. And in the final minute of the game, Mike Pollitt was called into action again to save Putterill's low shot. 'Razor' had another good chance in stoppage time but his powerful close range shot found the side netting.


Team: Martin; Darby, San Jose, Hobbs, Insua; El Zhar (Crowther 75), Spearing, Plessis (Putterill 73), Leto; Brouwer (Flynn 66), Lindfield.