Liverpool 2, Wigan Athletic 0 (D,Post)

Apr 23 2007 by Peter Guy, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL showed that they’re far from being a one-man team on Saturday as they secured a Champions League spot for next season by beating Wigan 2-0 thanks to a brace by Dirk Kuyt and it was all achieved with skipper Steven Gerrard sitting on the bench for the first 70 minutes.

Two home games in four days against opposition from the Premiership’s lower reaches were always going to be the perfect opportunity for Rafael Benitez’s side to cement at top-four spot and with a second-half double from Gerrard against Middlesbrough on Wednesday, the Spanish manager was able to leave his captain out of the starting line-up in a league game for the first time this season and still come away with a comfortable three points.

Whether their dynamic on-field leader has been operating in central midfield, on the right or left flanks or even in a ‘free role’ behind a lone striker, Liverpool have often being accused of relying too heavily on Gerrard but with a crucial trip to Stamford Bridge on the horizon, the man who spearheaded the glory that was Istanbul two years ago was able to take a well-earned breather for the majority of this contest.

Liverpool knew before kick-off that a victory over Paul Jewell’s fast-sinking troops would be enough to guarantee a place in the top four and a place in the Champions League qualifiers next season. And with Arsenal being denied a north London derby victory at White Hart Lane in the day’s early match which ended 2-2 thanks to Jermaine Jenas’s dramatic last-gasp leveller for the hosts they remained in third spot before their game had begun.

Securing a place among the continent’s elite for another season ahead of the visit to Chelsea could prove to be crucial for Benitez’s side, allowing them to focus wholly on their remaining European campaign.

If ever there was going to be an ideal Premiership game to play just four days ahead of a gargantuan Champions League showdown then this was it.

Wigan Athletic, who Liverpool had destroyed 4-0 in a first-half demolition job at the JJB Stadium in their corresponding league fixture in December are sinking fast and are in serious danger of sleep-walking into relegation.

The hapless Latics, who have now failed to win in their last six matches, are now hovering just two points above the relegation zone and showed nothing at all from this match that they have the necessary fight or ability needed to avoid getting sucked deeper into trouble if the going gets tough over the campaign’s final three fixtures.

Their manager, former Anfield apprentice Paul Jewell admitted afterwards that this was a damage limitation exercise with the idea for Wigan to try and avoid a battering that could ultimately prove costly if goal difference comes into play in deciding who stays up at the season’s end.

Liverpool made four changes to the side that defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 at Anfield on Wednesday and also switched from a 4-4-1-1 formation to an orthodox 4-4-2.

Out went Daniel Agger, Javier Mascherano, Momo Sissoko and Steven Gerrard to be replaced by Sami Hyypia, Xabi Alonso, Mark Gonzalez and Kuyt.

There were two alterations to the Wigan starting line-up from their 3-3 draw at home to Tottenham the previous Sunday as Ryan Taylor and Josip Skoko came in for Lee McCulloch and Henri Camara in a team that began 4-5-1 rather than 4-4-2.

Wigan’s only attacking ‘threat’ – I use that in the loosest possible sense of the word – came from former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, who for the first 45 minutes was given the thankless task of ploughing a lone furrow up front.

Having netted three times in as many matches leading up to his Anfield return, the ex-England international was on one of his hot-streaks when he’s ‘in the mood’ but on this occasion we saw more of the reasons of why he has largely remained an enigma despite being blessed with a body that could terrorise the meanest of Premiership hard men defenders.

Surely a prime candidate for such a mantle, Heskey’s former team-mate Jamie Carragher had described Wigan’s number nine as one of his most difficult opponents but rather than getting ‘stuck in’ to the men in red, the striker who Gerard Houllier once paid £11million for, spent most of the 64 minutes before he was hauled off squandering possession and falling to the ground.