Wigan 1 Liverpool 1: Fernando Torres offers another goalscoring masterclass but Hugo Rodallega halts Reds surge

By JOHN EDWARDS

Back to his best: Fernando Torres scored again


Fernando Torres provided further evidence he is back to his best, but the same could hardly be said of his team-mates at the DW Stadium last night.

Fresh from his two-goal contribution in the win over Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday, Liverpool's £21million record signing looked to have set the scene for a fifth successive victory for Roy Hodgson's rejuvenated side with another stunning solo effort in only the seventh minute.

While his exploits against Chelsea had a galvanising effect on all around him, though, the latest example of his razor-sharp finishing succeeded only in sparking Wigan into life.

After dominating the early stages, Liverpool found themselves pegged back by Hugo Rodallega's 52ndminute equaliser and run ragged by the direct, powerful probing of Charles N'Zogbia.

Steven Gerrard might have snatched a win with a 79th-minute drive that cannoned off the underside of the bar, but Hodgson didn't hide from his team's shortcomings.

The Liverpool manager said: 'We were perhaps a bit unlucky that Steven's shot did not go in, but the truth of the matter is we did not deserve to win. We looked tired, and our passing was nowhere near the level you would expect it to be.

'The reason for the fatigue is simple enough. We have faced Bolton, Napoli, Chelsea and now Wigan in the space of 10 days, and we have done it with a small squad that has been hit by injuries.

'We started brightly and finished brightly, but there were long periods in between where we were way below our normal level. It was a wonderful piece of play from two outstanding players for our goal, a great pass from Gerrard and excellent finish by Torres.


Clinical: Fernando Torres got Liverpool off to the perfect start with his first away goal since March


'But we could not capitalise on it, and, by the end, I was more than happy to come away with a point. We invited Wigan on to us by consistently giving the ball away, and the longer the game went on, the more we were up against it. If we had won it with that Gerrard effort, it would have been harsh on Wigan. In fact, they will no doubt feel 1-1 flatters us.'

Condemning reigning Barclays Premier League champions Chelsea to defeat is as good a way as any to announce an overdue return to peak form, and Torres wasted no time building on his morale-boosting match-winning double with another expertly taken goal.

Gerrard threaded an inch-perfect ball through from the halfway line, but Torres still had plenty to do to shake off Gary Caldwell and win another individual duel with goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi. An exquisite first touch not only controlled the ball but left Caldwell flat footed, while a typically assured right-foot shot was steered imperiously inside the post.


Level pegging: Hugo Rodallega brings Liverpool back down to earth


The euphoric reaction to an early goal by Torres against Chelsea suggested last night's breakthrough might take Liverpool a step nearer challenging for a top four place, but Wigan had other ideas.

N'Zogbia had a close-range finish disallowed for offside in the 33rd minute and, if that was a warning, it went unheeded by a jaded Liverpool showing none of the urgency that did for the title holders.


Pepe Reina raced to the rescue to whip the ball off N'Zogbia's toes in the 51st minute but might have done better a minute later as Liverpool buckled under the weight and persistence of Wigan's attacking.


N'Zogbia's pacy, incisive runs had repeatedly forced the visitors on to the back foot, and he was at the hub of Wigan's equaliser, with a pass that picked out Ronnie Stam in space. Reina could only palm the full back's driven low cross into the heart of the Liverpool area, where Rodallega needed no second invitation to hammer a shot into an unguarded net.

The momentum was building by the minute, and the Colombia striker looked like adding to his equaliser soon after when he appeared to have set himself up for a simple finish after rounding Reina, but Jamie Carragher nicked the ball away from his left boot and hacked it to safety.

Liverpool were under the cosh but broke free to fashion a chance that should have delivered the least deserved of wins. Maxi Rodriguez accelerated into space and looked up to see Gerrard in space.

The pass was measured to perfection and looked to have been matched by the shot that followed, only for the Liverpool captain to be left holding his head in frustration as a rising close-range drive bounced down from the bar and landed fractionally in front of the line.

Justice, Wigan argued, and Hodgson was in no mood to disagree.


source: dailymail

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