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Match Report
Portsmouth v Wigan 05 November 2005
Latics make it six in a row
Portsmouth 0 - 2 Wigan
Wigan Athletic cemented their position in second place after a comfortable 2-0 win at an out-of-sorts Portsmouth.
The visitors' discipline and organisation proved too much for a Pompey team which seemed ill at ease with the complicated system set out by Alain Perrin.
Second half goals from Pascal Chimbonda and Jason Roberts settled matters at Fratton Park, as Wigan recorded a sixth consecutive Premiership victory.
A desperate first half saw little in the way of quality but at least Stephane Henchoz was delivering a defensive masterclass, which helped to make the contest a little more palatable.
Portsmouth's only real chance of the half arrived on 13 minutes when Gregory Vignal's long punt prompted John Filan to emerge from his goal.
The Wigan keeper was beaten to the punch, though, by Dario Silva, only for the Uruguayan's header to drift over the bar, with the goal unguarded.
Leighton Baines covered smartly on 28 minutes to deny Silva another shooting opportunity after Vignal had threaded a pass into the area.
Brave defending from Andy Griffin blocked Lee McCulloch's goalbound effort as The Latics finished the half the stronger.
In the final minute of the first period, Jason Roberts had a first sighting of goal but he scuffed his volley wide after stretching for the bouncing ball.
Wigan built on that momentum early in the second half with Damien Francis' deflected volley providing the platform for Chimbonda's 48th minute goal.
From the resultant corner, Jimmy Bullard delivered the ball to the far post where Chimbonda rose above a meek Brian Priske challenge to head The Latics in front.
The visitors had a lucky escape on 53 minutes when Matt Taylor's corner brushed off the back of former Pompey defender Arjan De Zeeuw and just wide of the post.
But Wigan should have scored a second goal just 60 seconds later when they broke rapidly out of defence, with Pompey left with just one man at the back.
Roberts freed Graham Kavanagh but the midfielder's evident lack of pace prompted him to shoot inaccurately from 25 yards, when he had the choice of passes to two unmarked team-mates.
The controversial Laurent Robert was brought on after an hour to try to inject some vigour into Pompey's play and he was soon joined by Tresor Lomana Lua Lua, who was making his first appearance since being laid low with malaria.
Jamie Ashdown was forced into a scrambling save to turn over Henri Camara's header on 71 minutes before Portsmouth were hit with a sucker punch 11 minutes from time.
A lightning counter attack saw Chimbonda exchange passes with Camara before sprinting into the Pompey half. He unselfishly squared the ball to the unmarked Roberts and he took his time before slotting his shot beyond the onrushing Ashdown.
Portsmouth had nothing to offer as a riposte and it would appear that last week's 4-1 win at Sunderland was a false dawn.
| Portsmouth | Team Name | Wigan | | 0 | Goals | 2 | | 1 | Shots on target ( Inc Goals ) | 2 | | 3 | Shots off Target (inc woodwork) | 2 | | 3 | Blocked Shots | 3 | | 5 | Corners Won | 8 | | 12 | Total Fouls Conceded | 14 | | 1 | Offsides | 2 | | 1 | Yellow Cards | 2 | | 0 | Red Cards | 0 | | 41% | Possession | 59% |
Report From 
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