Wigan Relegated! :( :( :(

Well...

It has to be said that today is a day for commiserations as last night, Wigan Athletic's relegation was confirmed from the Premier League!

Unlike other narrow-minded footy fans, I look past my team's boundaries and as such share an affection for a handful of teams deemed worthy of my tracking and Wigan are just such a team...




After the elation of Saturday when Ben Watson gave them the F.A. Cup victory in stoppage time over Manchester City, it was possible that it could have been the launchpad that would ultimately save their season. They weathered the initial onslaught from Arsenal and you really got a sense, like the 5live commentators said, that the first goal could direct the game's destiny... what a guess!

After that first minute elapsed, I must admit I was a tad disappointed that Theo Walcott didn't manage to make it, I believe, a third straight game where he scores within a minute of kick-off. As the game wore on, however, you really could tell that Wigan were still up for it and it was just a case of whether they would have the legs for a fight having gone ninety minutes with last season's champions and come out on top.

Lukas Podolski changed all that really when he popped up unmarked to head in the opener and the talk then would be about whether the 'Latics would fold under pressure or not. They didn't...

There were chances enough for them to get back into the match when Shaun Maloney hit one of his trademark free-kicks (as soon as the foul was conceded, dubious or not I thought we were in trouble!) to level the tie going into half-time.

Second half and it was Wigan's turn to be on the front foot and you could sense that whoever got the next goal would go on to win the match.

The inspiration of just getting Jack Wilshere to warm up must've sent shockwaves into the atmosphere as next thing I knew, Walcott went on one of his trademark runs to give us the lead! WHEW! That was close...

After that, the Wigan heads seemed to visibly drop (even though I was listening to this on 5live, you could tell from the way they were describing the Wigan performance that they'd taken the hit personally) and when they lost Callum McManaman to injury, the writing definitely looked on the wall at this point, as though Franco Di Santo came on to allow Wigan to switch to a front two, it still wasn't enough to give them the lift they needed.

They knew they needed to win this one to have any chance of staying up! 

Arsenal now sensed blood and you could feel it in the atmosphere when Alex "the Ox" Oxlade-Chamberlain was brought on with Jack Wilshere but by that time both Podolski's sublime chip & an angled Aaron Ramsey drive had added a third & fourth goals for Arsenal.

So, the whistle went with Wigan on the end of what some might call a harsh drubbing, though don't let the result fool you because they played well and fought for it, right until Theo stunned them and then it was like mental fatigue took over having played ninety minutes on Saturday, a mere three days prior to this result.

A foregone conclusion Wigan's relegation might not have been, but their goal-tally definitely showed that they were making things harder for themselves as almost for ever goal they scored this season they conceded at least twice that many, at least, which is unfortunate because they are a joy to watch on their day (even if, as long as memory serves me right, they did stay up last time at our expense!)!

Next up for the Arsenal it's an away trip to Newcastle on Sunday knowing that their fate is now in their hands as long as they match the Spurs (yes I can bring myself to link to them even though they are my team's rivals!) result against Sunderland (who'd have thought that we'd each be cheering on a side of the Tyne-Wear derby on the last day of the season!).

Until then, bro's!

Peace out!


The Lanky Penguin