Wigan Athletic 1, Sunderland 0

Nov 30 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

The damning statistic of one away win in 17 in the league – stretching back to 2008 – is misleading. It makes it sound like the Black Cats are useless the minute they leave Wearside.

As anyone who saw them at Old Trafford or White Hart Lane will tell you, they can play well away when they want to, which is actually far more worrying. Little wonder Bruce was talking darkly – and repeatedly – of changes in the January transfer window.

What added to the frustration was that while Wigan were nowhere near as bad as the team lucky to keep Tottenham Hotspur’s score in single figures six days earlier, they were a long way off being as good as the side which beat Chelsea.

In a scathing criticism of his own team, Sunderland’s Phil Bardsley described Wigan afterwards as “average”.

While the three behind Jason Scotland looked a cut above, the rest did little to warm the heart on a cold day.

It was inevitable that Rodallega and former Newcastle United player Charles N’Zogbia would play well after Wigan chairman Dave Whelan made Bruce’s “dodgy signings” the un-named scapegoats for the Spurs massacre.

For all the highlights the trio conjured, Roberto Martinez’s own dodgy signing Scotland has still to score for Wigan.

He came very close, striking the base of the post from N’Zogbia’s cross under pressure from George McCartney, but Márton Fülöp’s best save came from one of his own defenders.