Wigan Athletic 2, Newcastle United 1

Dec 27 2008 by Paul Cunningham, Journal

NEWCASTLE United enjoy Boxing Day about as much as a man who wakes up after Christmas with a hangover, only to discover his wife has headed down to the sales with his credit card.

The Magpies haven’t won on December 26 since 1988 and they’ve lost all five games they’ve played at the JJB Stadium.

So when the only specialist left-back on the team bus, Jose Enrique, injured his calf in the warm-up another predictable afternoon was on the cards.

But it says much for the spirit of a Newcastle side that was outplayed for 87 minutes that they returned home wondering how they failed to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches.

Added time saw Damien Duff miss two good chances and United left seething when Mike Dean showed Andy Carroll a yellow card instead of pointing to the spot when he went to ground in Wigan’s penalty area.

If Enrique’s injury was bad luck, the loss of Newcastle’s other full-back, Habib Beye, after just over half an hour was due to very bad tackling by Lee Cattermole. The former Middlesbrough midfielder recently captained the Latics for the first time but it does not seem to have brought any more responsibility to his play. Cattermole lunged in and his trailing leg caught Beye halfway up his shin.

By then United were trailing to a familiar source. Ryan Taylor’s goal was only his sixth in the Premier League but his fourth against the Magpies and his third time he’d netted with a free-kick against them on this ground.

Steve Bruce always loves talking about how much he enjoys facing the team he supported as a boy, but he cannot surely look forward to it as much as his versatile Merseysider. It was hardly a surprise he ended United’s 323-minute run without conceding away from Tyneside.

Enrique’s withdrawal forced a reshuffle but did not put United out of their stride. Duff moved to the left wing and Charles N’Zogbia to full-back to accommodate Mark Viduka’s first start this season. Despite that, Viduka was straight on his game, threading an excellent through-ball to Duff on the right in the first minute, but his cross was cut out. Duff produced an even better pass just before the quarter-hour, weighted perfectly for Michael Owen, sprinting down the inside left channel. Paul Scharner’s tackle was better even than the pass.

Jonás Gutiérrez was United’s brightest player and showed persistence throughout. In the 20th minute he beat Taylor and Maynor Figueroa on the right byline and would have scored had Chris Kirkland not rushed off his line. Viduka’s header from the corner was kept out by a combination of Mario Melchiot and his goalkeeper. Wigan also had chances but seemed reluctant to take them. When Antonio Valencia picked Taylor out in first-half added time he took so long over his shot that a sliding Gutiérrez forced a save for him.

Taylor continued to be a thorn in Newcastle’s side in the second half, forcing a save from Given then blasting off target from close range, perhaps put off by the three men who ran in front of him but failed to connect with Valencia’s cross. With Danny Guthrie’s shot hitting Scharner on the back and looping just over, a 1-0 defeat for the fourth season running looked unlikely.

A 2-0 defeat was a distinct possibility, however. Sebastien Bassong produced an excellent piece of defending to atone for his own mistake only to get too cocky and concede possession. It took some quick-thinking from Steven Taylor to dive in front of his namesake and retrieve the ball. With Nicky Butt’s air-shot adding to his scrappy performance, Newcastle were getting ragged and their supporters angry.

They booed Viduka as he walked off clutching his groin, and chanting, “You’re not fit to wear the shirt.”

Newcastle’s day headed rapidly downhill. Bassong chased a long ball with Emile Heskey, frantically pulling his shirt as soon as he got to within about 20 yards of the penalty area.

The linesman flagged but referee Mike Dean played advantage. Bassong kept pulling – all the way into the penalty area – until the whistle was blown and Bassong red-carded for his trouble. Zaki gave Given no chance with his penalty.

With Butt and Duff booked for dissent and Owen the next to go off – youngster David Edgar coming on to shore up the back four – it looked to have completed a miserable day for the Magpies.

Then, out of nowhere, Andy Carroll chased Butt’s 87th-minute pass and was taken out by Kirkland’s flailing arm. Guthrie put the spot kick down the middle. He might have had another when Carroll fell under Michael Brown’s challenge, but the striker got a yellow card instead.

But Duff’s wayward finishing condemned his team to another bah humbug Christmas.