Football story by Carl Anders, Wed, 21 Dec 2005 12:04:00 GMT


Wigan Athletic moved a step ahead in this fairytale season by beating Bolton Wanderers 2-0 to advance to the semifinal of the Carling Cup. Jason Roberts was the hero for Wigan at the JJB Stadium last night and it was his two goals that saw Wigan advance. Wigan manager Paul Jewell was not on the field as he was down with the flu, but he would have been proud of his team's performance, which saw them post an unlikely victory over a decidedly stronger rival.

Bolton have been the in-form team this season, but even they could not thwart the fairytale that Wigan have been having this season as Roberts tapped in two goals in quick time towards the end of the first half. After this, Bolton were left to chase the game and stout defending from Wigan ensured that they were blanked out. Roberts was used as a substitute in the previous game against Bournemouth, but his winner there meant that he got to start for the first time in the competition. Two errors by Jaidi, the first one a missed tackle and the second one a swipe at an awkwardly bouncing ball that allowed Roberts to mow through the penalty area, accounted for the two goals.

The Tunisian defender had a miserable game and Sam Allardyce will have to have some words with him.
Wigan's Assistant manager Chris Hutchings, who was in charge in Jewell's absence was happy with the win, "To take their scalp in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, we are delighted and now we are in sight of a final," he said. "I am sorry to say but it's that old cliché of one game at a time because we won't be happy until we get those 40 points which should guarantee us safety." Bolton boss Sam Allardyce was hard pressed to explain the defensive errors, "It was comic-book defending from ourselves, although the major difference on the night was Jason Roberts who has now established himself as a Premiership centre forward," he said. "I'm gutted."

Match Details
Referee: M Dean (Wirral).

Wigan: Pollitt, Taylor (Chimbonda 86), De Zeeuw, Jackson, Baines, Mahon (Teale 69), Kavanagh, Francis, McCulloch, Johansson (Camara 69), Roberts.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Ben Haim, Jaidi, Gardner, Giannakopoulos (Vaz Te 57), Speed, Faye (Okocha 71), Nolan, Nakata (Diouf 61), Davies.

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