Football Corner

Wigan and West Brom have both claimed three points today surprisingley when Wigan beat Newcastle and West Brom beat Arsenal. It was an early kick-off at The JJB stadium and it looked asthough Newcastle were still asleep in the match. In the first ever league meeting between the sides, Premiership new boys Wigan refused to be easily intimidated by Graeme Souness' men. Roberts' goal five minutes before the break was the deserved reward for a fiesty first-half performance. Roberts had already hit the woodwork 10 minutes in, after sprinting past defender Robbie Elliott, and nine minutes later McCulloch headed a Wigan corner over the crossbar.

But Newcastle battled back strongly and hit the post when Lee Bowyer struck with a nice shot. Newcastle can feel very unhappy tonight with the officials after Alan Shearer's header clearly crossed the line with one of his trademark headers but the assistant didn't give the goal. Wigan were reduced to ten men soon after when Lee McCulloch took down Turkish international Emre with a nasty challenge but he came of worst and was about to be substituted but was sent off so Wigan had to hold out with ten men. Final score Wigan 1-0 Newcastle.

At The Hawtorns today West Brom pulled of a shock defeat to pretty much kill Arsenal's chances of winning the title. Arsenal took the lead when Swiss defender Phillipe Senderos vollied home from a Reyes corner. Kirkland was soon called into action, tipping a Bergkamp effort over, and the flurry of activity in the wrong half of the pitch from the home perspective forced Robson into a change of tactics. He pushed Horsfield up front alongside Kanu, turning a 4-5-1 into a 4-4-2. It was an Arsenal old boy who scored the equaliser for West Brom, Kanu volling home after a poor clearance by Senderos.


It was the first goal Arsenal had conceded in 338 minutes of Premiership football and seemed to puncture their self-belief before slowly and surely they reasserted their authority. When Robson replaced Kanu with Darren Moore it seemed as if he was happy with a point, but Carter had other ideas, rifling a wonderful shot beyond Jens Lehmann's despairing dive. It was the first time the Baggies had won in the Premiership having fallen behind and their first home win over Arsenal in 22 years.

Great victories for both West Brom and Wigan but for the other teams embarrising defeats, with all due respect. Arsenal's chances of winning the title this year have all but gone after Chelsea continued their good form with a comfortable home win and Man United securing a 3-1 victory away from home. They are now fourteen points behind their London rivals. Wigan have moved into a Champions League spot into fourth and West Brom move up to fourteenth.