morning papers wigan away

Guardian:
Crespo's cruel strike undoes peerless Wigan
Kevin McCarra at the JJB StadiumMonday August 15, 2005The Guardian
Wigan's ascent to the Premiership may be mind-boggling but it was Chelsea who hardly knew where they were. The champions found their bearings only for a split-second and yet that instant of perfection ruined the entire day for Paul Jewell's freshly promoted side. All the same there was no luck to Hernán Crespo's goal.The vindictiveness was in the timing, with three minutes of stoppage time nearly completed. After Didier Drogba had scrapped for possession Crespo gathered 20 yards from the target at an angle on the right. The superlative Arjan de Zeeuw hovered in front of him circumspectly, expecting this attack to shrivel like all the others.The Argentinian was even obliged to manipulate the ball on to his weaker left foot but he still steered it as precisely as he intended, high past the right hand of the goalkeeper Mike Pollitt. Apologies took precedence over celebrations for the Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who seemed to be begging Jewell's forgiveness.Exquisite as the winner was, Chelsea could not cherish it when they had just plumbed depths they never experienced all last season. It was a performance of inky blackness in which players seemed barely able to see one another as passes went constantly astray.
Here was the confirmation of the double threat to Premiership holders. They can be weakened from within by the creeping assumption that they are entitled to triumph and punctured, too, by opponents who sense that a game such as this is one of the great events of their careers.
Wigan were wonderful. Jewell, having upgraded his squad, gave five players their competitive debut, with De Zeeuw, in addition, settling back into life with his old club after leaving Portsmouth. Despite the overhaul Wigan backed one another with far more conviction than Chelsea showed.
Stamford Bridge mainstays such as Frank Lampard could not get the match to pay him any attention. In one symptomatic episode, after Damien Francis had overpowered him on the edge of the penalty area, the quick, boisterous Henri Camara crossed to Alan Mahon, who fired negligently high.
Lampard was far from being the weakest member of a line-up in which every outfield player was harried. Even John Terry glimpsed Camara running breezily past him to draw a save from Petr Cech in the fourth minute. It was no surprise that he collected a gash on his foot that, despite needing two stitches, should not rule him out of England's friendly with Denmark.
Every other member of the Chelsea side came away from the JJB stadium with scar tissue as well, even if it was only on their psyches. Damien Duff may have required a sharp save from Pollitt but he and Arjen Robben, on whom attacks so often depend, were bumblers.
Even if Crespo did pluck a win out of thin air this afternoon must have been a tonic to Premiership rivals. And yet Chelsea were not beneficiaries of some kind of fluke. Even with their system in disarray, they had the means to slay opponents who had neglected to kill them off.
If Wigan are to be faulted at all it is purely for an understandable lack of composure as pulses raced. Seconds before Crespo scored, Damien Francis should have put Andreas Johansson clear but his pass was late and asked the substitute to convert an awkward volley. The opportunity was lost.
There can, nonetheless, be only admiration for the endless enterprise of Wigan, whose line-up was built for less than half of Crespo's £16.8m price. Even as weariness was swamping them, Francis, with eight minutes remaining, headed a Gary Teale delivery on to the top of the bar. By then Chelsea had improved, but only to the point of being moderate.
Shaun Wright-Phillips, on for Robben, was a help and, comfortingly for England, Joe Cole also made a difference by taking over from Gudjohnsen. Nevertheless Pollitt blocked when he had to and De Zeeuw appeared endlessly capable of unanswerable challenges.
The only reservation about Wigan lies in the uniqueness of this fixture for a club that, exactly 34 years ago, were losing in the second leg of an Ashworth Trophy tie against Rossendale United. The opportunity to pit themselves against Chelsea as equals, in Premiership membership at least, maddened this town with excitement.
Whether newly arrived or long-serving, the players embraced the mood. All the games to come, though, will be mundane by comparison and all the more treacherous for the lack of adrenalin.
Wigan's prospects of survival in the top flight will not be known until we discover whether yesterday's form can be sustained. That was, rightly, too dreary a question for the locals to debate here. No one can deny them the anticipation aroused by the arrival of fresh players and the redoubled efforts of those they know well.
Chelsea were disgusted with themselves but their problems did not arise merely from a lapse in standards. Pascal Chimbonda, the Wigan right-back born in Guadeloupe, sealed off his wing no matter whom Mourinho pitted against him and also had the breath to overlap with gusto.
Another debutant, Camara, made himself a deeper enigma than ever. Having gone under with Wolves and then Southampton he is aiming to dodge a third consecutive relegation, but there has always been spasmodic proof of power and talent. Yesterday he scared even Chelsea's intimidating back four.
Late on the visitors were in such disarray that William Gallas volleyed a throw-in from Asier Del Horno behind his own goal for a corner. If Wigan can somehow go on spreading such panic, it will be others who are left to face the terrors of relegation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independent:
Crespo cracker cruel on Wigan as champions show mettle WIGAN ATHLETIC 0 CHELSEA 1 By Sam Wallace Published: 15 August 2005 There were 39 seconds remaining and a club without a prayer, in a town without a football tradition, was about to celebrate the most famous goalless draw of their modest history.
It was then that Hernan Crespo scored a goal that not only articulated the cruelty of life in the Premiership to the people of Wigan but reminded the rest of English football that Jose Mourinho's champions are not easily denied victory.
Wigan came so close, but then no team in the past 12 months has taken such ruthless hold of their own destiny as Chelsea. For much of this game they found themselves out-fought by Paul Jewell's team and, at times, teetered on the brink of a defeat that would have impacted on the hierarchy of this league like no other result.
In the end, Mourinho had to search deep into the rich depths of his expensive squad to summon a victory and, when it arrived, Crespo's goal was worthy of any occasion.
Until the 93rd minute there had been more promise in the Wigan attack. Then Didier Drogba challenged for a ball in the air, possession fell to Crespo 25 yards from goal and the Argentinian launched a dipping shot out of Mike Pollitt's reach. On the front row of the directors' box, Roman Abramovich's billionaire entourage celebrated with gleeful relief and Crespo was engulfed by his team-mates, but as the Chelsea bench cleared Mourinho simply shook his head and glanced across at Jewell.
It was a rare expression of sympathy towards an opponent from the Portuguese coach and, in a league where jobs and reputations are imperilled every week, it was a moment to prize. Mourinho is the manager who leaves nothing to chance, whose meticulous preparation is an exercise in closing down the great variables of football, but even he knew, as he later admitted, that Chelsea had been granted one of the game's great escapes.
"They didn't deserve to lose the game," Mourinho said. "In that game you couldn't tell who were the Championship champions and who were the Premiership champions. The two teams were exactly the same. My defenders were brilliant in difficult circumstances. At times we were too slow and some of the players didn't look motivated.
"At half-time I told them, 'Don't come knocking on my door crying that you are not in the team because now I have to make changes.'I feel sorry for Wigan and I don't feel they deserved to lose, but that's football."
Wigan's moment to win came just moments before Crespo's goal when a Chelsea corner was cleared and Gary Teale broke into the visitors' half. He crossed for substitute Andreas Johansson at the back post but, with the stadium on its feet, the Swede was unable to give his newly promoted team the goal they craved. At times, the Chelsea defence had found itself ravaged by the running of Henri Camara and Jason Roberts, but they never quite succumbed.
In midfield, Jimmy Bullard, a West Ham trainee like his opposite number Frank Lampard, was exceptional and the new defensive pairing of Stephane Henchoz and Arjan de Zeeuw were comfortable against Drogba. Jewell may well have introduced a new term for despair into the football lexicon when he described his team as being "as sick as pigs", but in the circumstances even that seemed appropriate.
The Wigan manager said that his team would survive in the Premiership if they were to perform like that every week. "We gave everything we got and I am happy with the performance," he said. "If there's a way to lose then that is it because the players left no stone unturned trying to win that match. It was a wonder goal by Crespo."
In the first half, Camara was stopped by a save from Petr Cech and created a good opening for Alan Mahon which the midfielder struck over. Arjen Robben and Eidur Gudjohnsen gave way at half-time for Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole before Crespo came on as Mourinho tried to lend urgency to his team's attacks. Chelsea's grip on the game became stronger in the second half but Damien Francis still clipped the bar with a header on 82 minutes.
There had been an escape for Wigan on 79 minutes when Teale may have handled Asier del Horno's cross, yet even Mourinho did not criticise the referee Mark Clattenburg.
In the town where George Orwell set his treatise on the poverty of the English working class, Britain's wealthiest man arrived in his helicopter rather than on the road to Wigan pier. Abramovich left having been reminded that the gap between the rich and the poor is not as great as he may have thought.
Goal: Crespo (90) 0-1.
Wigan (4-4-2): Pollitt; Chimbonda, Henchoz, De Zeeuw, Baines; Teale, Francis, Bullard, Mahon; Camara (Johansson, 86), Roberts. Substitutes not used: Walsh (gk), Jackson, Taylor, McMillan.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Del Horno; Makelele; Duff (Crespo, 59), Lampard, Gudjohnsen (Wright-Phillips, h-t), Robben (Cole, h-t); Drogba. Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Huth.
Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
Booked: Wigan Mahon.
Man of the match: Bullard.
Attendance: 23,575. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Telegraph:
Crespo's bolt cruel on Wigan By Henry Winter (Filed: 15/08/2005)
Match details
Wigan Athletic (0) 0 Chelsea (0) 1
Chelsea have made some interesting signings this summer but no one realised the champions had snapped up Lady Luck as well. Outrageous fortune smiled on Chelsea here yesterday, when Hernan Crespo's thunderous injury-time winner mocked natural sporting justice and 90 minutes of marvellous endeavour from Wigan Athletic.
As the Argentine's 20-yarder flew into Wigan's net, Jose Mourinho had the good grace to walk across, embrace Paul Jewell and whisper: "That's unfair." The Wigan manager shrugged and replied: "That's life, that's football."
Yet Jewell rightly took immense pride in the commitment and enterprise of his newly promoted team. "My players are pig sick because they played so well," Jewell said. "But they can walk out of here with their chests out."
None more than so than Arjan De Zeeuw, a Dutch rock on whom Chelsea's unfocused attacks had hitherto foundered. "De Zeeuw is a great signing for us as a player, a man and as a leader," Jewell said. And all for £100,000. It took £16.8 million worth of pure Latin American genius to wrong-foot him, Crespo climaxing a direct attack involving Petr Cech, Paulo Ferreira and Didier Drogba with some neat right-footed control before ramming his left foot into the ball.
As Crespo's bolt from the blue tore through the warm Lancashire air and threatened to separate the net from the stanchion, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan slumped back in his seat, momentarily crest-fallen at the fickle nature of a sport he has served so well. Three seats along, Roman Abramovich permitted himself an embarrassed smile.
All the Chelsea party, who last night made a final effort to sign Lyons' Michael Essien, knew how providence had favoured them. "Today we have had a wake-up call without losing points," Mourinho said. "We did not deserve to win." The Special One rarely chides his players in public but he was clearly irate at the muted first halves of Eidur Gudjohnsen, Arjen Robben, Damien Duff and Drogba.
"In the first half, some of our players didn't look highly motivated," Mourinho said. "I said to them, 'do not come crying to my door because you are not playing when I make changes'. We have a lot of good players, so if players don't perform they are out of the team.
"You couldn't see during the game who were the Premiership champions and who were the team who had come up from the Championship. Our defenders, keeper, and midfielders Lampard and Makelele were brilliant in difficult circumstances, because we kept losing the ball in midfield [out wide] and up front.
"Nobody sitting up in the tribune would have understood our system. Why? Because there was no system. The left-winger [Robben] was playing inside. The right-winger [Duff] was playing on the left. The forward [Drogba] was not making the right line.
"It was too bad to be true. We were thinking slow, playing slow, not pressing high like we normally do, and not chasing opponents. Our wingers were not pressing their full-backs. We have not played so badly since the second game of last season against Birmingham."
Mourinho's vaunted players had emerged to chants of "bring on the champions" but last season's thoroughbreds performed like selling-platers for 45 minutes. Stirred up by Jewell's pre-match exhortations to show no fear, Wigan's players rattled their celebrated visitors, tearing into them from the off, to the delight of three sides of a reverberating JJB Stadium. Whelan's eyes appeared to moisten at the sight of his Premiership players running with such -purpose.
Jimmy Bullard was everywhere, winning tackles and slipping passes all over midfield. Henri Camara was looking every inch good value as Wigan's record £3.1 million signing, drawing a fine save from Cech after four minutes and then turning John Terry to set up Alan Mahon. With Cech's goal at his mercy, Mahon shot hurriedly over.
Wigan fans warmly applauded Camara's work, especially important with Nathan Ellington scheduled to complete his £3 million transfer to West Bromwich today.
"Nathan was in tears yesterday," Jewell said. "I'm not convinced he wants to leave. Someone must have told West Brom there is a clause in his contract that says if someone bids over £3 million he can go, so they bid £3 million and one pound."
Camara teamed up promisingly with Jason Roberts but Jewell knows he needs another goal-scorer. Asked about a mooted bid for Dean Ashton, Jewell said: "We need another striker but I don't suppose Norwich want to sell."
At least Wigan were keeping Cech on his toes. Jewell's new goalkeeper from Rotherham, Mike Pollitt, was really only called into action in the first half to make a fine save from Duff just before the interval.
Mourinho acted, removing Robben and Gudjohnsen in favour of the lively right-sided Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole, who operated in the hole behind Drogba and, soon, Crespo. "In the second half, we dominated," Mourinho said.
Wigan still threatened, Damien Francis hitting the bar as chants of "we're going to win the league" emerged from thousands of Wigan throats. Jewell's men wasted two late breakaways and then, cruelly, came Crespo.
Match details
Wigan (4-4-2): Pollitt; Chimbonda, Henchoz, De Zeeuw, Baines; Teale, Francis, Bullard, Mahon; Roberts, Camara (Johansson 85). Subs: Walsh (g), Jackson, Taylor, McMillan. Booked: Mahon. Chelsea (4-1-2-2-1): Cech; Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Del Horno; Makelele; Gudjohnsen (J Cole h-t), Lampard; Duff (Crespo 58), Robben (Wright-Phillips h-t); Drogba. Subs: Cudicini (g), Huth. Goal: Crespo (90). Referee: M Clattenburg (Newcastle).
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Times:
Crespo the saviour of below-par ChelseaBy Matt DickinsonWigan Athletic 0 Chelsea 1 GOAL OF THE SEASON? Hernán Crespo's thunderous winner in injury time yesterday is an early spectacular contender. Already beyond debate is that no team will lose more cruelly all year than Wigan Athletic did in succumbing to the Argentinian's late cannonball. José Mourinho did not even have the heart to celebrate when Crespo's left-footed shot flew into the top corner in the third minute of added time. The Chelsea manager walked straight over to Paul Jewell and, to his opposite number's surprise, gave him a hug. "I told him it was unfair," Mourinho said. What the Portuguese said to his own players was even more enlightening. "Don't come knocking on my door complaining about being out of the team when you play like that," he told them at half-time. He excused his back four plus Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard, which left Arjen Robben, Damien Duff, Didier Drogba and Eidur Gudjohnsen in the line of fire.
"In a group like we have, everyone is under pressure," Mourinho added. "There are a lot of great players so if you don't perform you are out of the team." That point should be reinforced this morning. There were more talks between Chelsea and Lyons last night over the transfer of Michael Essien with the Ghana midfield player expected to complete his protracted move to Stamford Bridge for about £25 million.
Gudjohnsen is likely to be chopped from the starting XI but, even though he was hauled off at half-time, he was not Chelsea's worst player. After his two fine goals in the Community Shield last week, Drogba looked the dregs once more but it was Robben who may have felt the worst lash of his manager's tongue. The Dutchman had offered a couple of eye-catching bursts but he had also spent far too long sitting on the floor and complaining about tackles.
"During the game, you couldn't see who were the Championship champions and who were the Premiership champions," Mourinho said. "We defended very well in difficult circumstances because we kept losing the ball in midfield and attack. They were thinking slow, playing slow, not pressuring high up the pitch like normal. Our wingers were not playing against the full backs and giving them too much freedom. Everything was against what we spoke about in training all week. Players were out of position and, from the stands, you couldn't tell our system. There was no system. It was too bad to be true.
"I kept saying all week that last season we won at West Brom, Norwich, Southampton by playing hard and fighting hard and strong mentally. Today, some players didn't look highly motivated."
Mourinho made two substitutions at the interval, introducing Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips. "I would have made more but it was too risky," he said after 45 minutes in which the pace and power of Jason Roberts and Henri Camara appeared to catch Chelsea's famed defence, including John Terry, who finished with two stitches to a leg, off their guard. Roared on by a record crowd at the JJB Stadium, Wigan were wonderfully free of inhibitions. They began to retreat from the start of the second half, relying on the counter-attack, but they were still good value for a point before the three minutes of added time.
Mourinho's substitutions, including the 60th-minute introduction of Crespo for Duff, had been typically decisive interventions but his team were looking shapeless as they moved towards the final stages. There was no left winger and the three man backline left them vulnerable to counter-attacks.
Damien Francis headed on to Petr Cech's crossbar in the 82nd minute and, late on, a three-man breakaway concluded with Andreas Johansson hitting an ambitious volley over the crossbar after a belated pass from Gary Teale.
It appeared that Johansson's wayward shot would be the last significant moment of an enthralling afternoon but there was a twist in the tale. Outrageously unlucky for Wigan, it did at least feature an incredible piece of skill from one of the game's leading strikers.
Arjan de Zeeuw had been magnificent all game on his Wigan debut but, when Crespo gathered the ball 20 yards from goal, the £100,000 signing from Portsmouth stood off for the first time. The Argentinian scored his first competitive goal since AC Milan's third in the European Cup final against Liverpool. This time there was no time for his opponents to respond.
"Normally you lose a game and that is a wake-up call," Mourinho said. "We had the call without losing points." It was a hugely fortunate victory although it helps when you can throw on a £16 million striker. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sun:
Wigan 0 Chelsea 1 By SUN ONLINE REPORTER
HERNAN CRESPO'S last-minute wonder winner left even Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho admitting: We were so lucky.
Wigan's Premiership debut eclipsed the champions' poor show - until substitute Crespo thumped a 25-yard curler into the top corner.
And angry Mourinho, who responded to the goal by immediately consoling Latics boss Paul Jewell, said: "They didn't deserve to lose - you couldn't see who the champions were.
"I told my players at half-time if they come knocking on my door on Friday asking why they are not playing I will point to this game.
""Our defenders were brilliant in difficult circumstances because we kept losing the ball in midfield and attack.
"In the second half we were much better - we dominated. But I don't think we deserved to win and they didn't deserve to lose.
""Normally you lose a game and that is a wake-up call. Today we have had a wake-up call without losing points."
Jewell said: "If we keep playing like that we'll surprise a lot of teams. The only negative was the result.
"Jose said, when they scored the goal, 'we don't deserve that'.
"We didn't get maybe what we deserved for our effort and desire, but that's top-class football. We're sick as pigs."
And Jewell added: "We were quite happy for them to pass the ball and we had two good situations at the end which we should have done better with.
"The players were out on their feet with 20 minutes to go. The pace of the game is ferocious and we've got to get used to it.
"If we give everything we've got like that every week we'll be okay. If we do it week in, week out, we will surprise a few people.
"The only negative is the result - everything else is positive. We pushed them all the way and arguably had the better chances."
Arsenal and Manchester United will expect to better Chelsea this season - unless the champs improve greatly upon this showing.
High-tempo Wigan showed scant regard for the status of their visitors.
And on this form they look capable of doing what few promoted clubs have done recently - stay up.
Mourinho had granted Jewell an audience during the summer, each gaining the respect of the other.
But such respect was dispensed with by 4pm as a town more commonly known for pies and rugby league united behind the football club. There surely has never been a greater contrast between two Premiership teams, not even in the days when clubs like Barnsley and Bradford enjoyed brief spots in the limelight.
The Blues played confident keep-ball - but only for the opening 90 seconds.
And one challenge from new recruit Pascal Chimbonda on Arjen Robben set the tone.
Chelsea were thrown out of their stride and inside five minutes could have been a goal down as two chances fell the way of Henri Camara, Wigan's record £3.1million signing from Wolves.
With Nathan Ellington due to complete a £3m move to West Brom tomorrow, Camara started and tormented the Blues defence.
One crisp fourth-minute drive forced Petr Cech into a full-stretch save, and another effort 60 seconds later found the side-netting.
It took Mourinho a while to recognise the Latics' weak side was down the left, where Alan Mahon and Leighton Baines featured.