Wigan Athletic 0 Chelsea 2
WIGAN // “Bring on the champions of Europe,” sang the blissful 4,500 Chelsea travelling fans who packed the away end at a rainy Wigan Athletic yesterday ahead of their opening Premier League encounter.
Chelsea had won nine of their last 10 opening day league fixtures and a tenth victory was virtually assured after just seven minutes at the DW Stadium in Roberto di Matteo’s first competitive league game as manager proper.
Di Matteo’s position was still in doubt when Eden Hazard signed, but he gave the Belgiam international an English league debut and his impact was immediate.
Hazard received the ball after two minutes with his back to goal on the halfway line, turned his marker and fellow Premier League debutant, Ivan Ramis, inside out, fed a pass to unlikely recipient Branislav Ivanovic and the Serbian had plenty of time to pick his spot to finish.
It got worse for Ramis, the Spanish centre-back, and better for Hazard four minutes later when the Mallorcan clipped Hazard inside the area for a penalty. Wigan’s game plan fell apart.
Frank Lampard drove the penalty past Ali Al Habsi to cries of “Super Frank”, but while Wigan’s attempts to contain Hazard were clumsy, the home side did settle. By the time Fernando Torres appealed in vain for a 19th-minute penalty, the fans felt buoyant enough to raise the odd “Come on Wigan” chant to lift spirits.
Their side could not come any closer to goal than a 37th-minute Victor Moses shot parried for a corner by Petr Cech, but Chelsea fans merely taunted the home fans with "Victor Moses, we'll see you next week." The Nigerian winger, Wigan's greatest threat,has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea.
Neither side could add to the early goals, though Torres came close in the 62nd minute with a prod pushed off the line by Ramis.
Hazard limped off after fading, but the first-half directness and ease with which the fleet-heeled Belgian international went past opponents illustrated his sublime talent which cost £32 million (Dh184.4m) to secure him in May from Lille.
“He was outstanding,” said Di Matteo.
“He combined well with his teammates, he has great technical ability and a burst of pace. He can play with his back to the goal and has a lot of characteristics which will help our team.”
Wigan have been here before. They have lost five of their opening day fixtures since promotion to the Premier League seven years ago, but despite often being the smallest club in the top flight, their form over 38 games has been enough to keep them up.
“We’re very disappointed,” said the Wigan manager Roberto Martinez.
“We worked over 55 sessions pre-season to try and start well. We were too soft with no defensive intensity.”
Martinez was, however, more positive in his appraisal about his players’ response to the early goals.
“It would have been easy to accept defeat,” he said, “but we didn’t do that. We reacted well and had a few chances.”
Wigan fans applauded their team off the pitch, too.
“I’m optimistic about this season,” said Martin Tarbuck of Mudhutter fanzine.
“We’ve bought well and the pundits are doing us a disservice with their negativity towards us,” though he admits Wigan have an unpredictable quality.
“When we’re set up for a good year we struggle,” said Tarbuck. “We seem to play better when our backs are against the wall.”
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