The Latics suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at Anfield and came away with plenty of plaudits for their footballing talent. On another day the result could have been different.
Here is what the two managers thought.
Roberto Martinez
Momo opened his medial ligament a little bit in a challenge in the first half, which was getting worse as the game progressed.
We took him off to assess the damage, and at the moment we don't know how badly he is injured and how long he'll be out.
With a bit of luck, he won't be out for too long.The concern is that the next game is this Monday, which is very close, but hopefully we took him off at the right time and he avoided any real damage.
You could see the anxiety around the ground and I felt we were going to finish the strongest of the sides. The way that we scored the goal at the end it proved that so I am disappointed that we couldn't get anything out of the game but very pleased with many aspects of the performance and the approach of the players and in that respect it will help us to carry on growing.
The problem is that the first goal is very, very disappointing - for our standards, it's a soft, soft goal. It comes from a second phase in a set piece, its just lapses in concentration and you're going to get punished if you come anywhere in the Premiership, especially if you come to a place like Anfield. So it wasn't the best of starts but the way we reacted and we found a little bit of composure on the ball and slowly we finished the half strong.
And in the second half we had our share so it is disappointing that we couldn't dip in and reflect that in the scoreline.
Rafa Benitez
It was very important to win, to get three points, with a lot of positives. It does not matter if we couldn't score more goals and be more relaxed in the second half but, at the end of the day, three points is key. We needed to get these three points and be ready for the next game. We are thinking about one game at a time so now Portsmouth (on Saturday) is the target. The Table
| Latest match Wednesday, 16th December 2009 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 17 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 42 | 14 | 40 | +28 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 17 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 37 | 14 | 37 | +23 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 16 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 20 | 32 | +21 | ||||
| 4 | Aston Villa | 17 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 14 | 32 | +14 | ||||
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 38 | 22 | 30 | +16 | ||||
| 6 | Liverpool | 17 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 23 | 27 | +11 | ||||
| 7 | Birmingham City | 17 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 17 | 27 | +1 | ||||
| 8 | Manchester City | 16 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 24 | 26 | +5 | ||||
| 9 | Fulham | 16 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 17 | 23 | +3 | ||||
| 10 | Sunderland | 17 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 22 | 24 | 21 | -2 | ||||
| 11 | Stoke City | 16 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 19 | 21 | -4 | ||||
| 12 | Blackburn Rovers | 17 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 30 | 19 | -13 | ||||
| 13 | Burnley | 17 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 21 | 35 | 19 | -14 | ||||
| 14 | Wigan Athletic | 17 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 38 | 18 | -18 | ||||
| 15 | Everton | 16 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 30 | 17 | -8 | ||||
| 16 | Hull City | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 34 | 17 | -17 | ||||
| 17 | Bolton Wanderers | 16 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 23 | 33 | 16 | -10 | ||||
| 18 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 31 | 16 | -16 | ||||
| 19 | West Ham United | 17 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 25 | 34 | 14 | -9 | ||||
| 20 | Portsmouth | 17 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 26 | 11 | -11 | ||||
Next Game
Next up for the Latics is the visit of Bolton to the DW Stadium on Monday. A very important game for both clubs given the present state of affairs in the bottom half of the table. A factor that will add more spice to a fiesty local derby.
