ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Wigan 3 Chelsea 1:"BRIDGE OF SIZE" fans are unlikely to agree but Lilliputian triumphs like this can only be good for the game, proffering the promise of the most open, and therefore, most exciting, title race for years.
Wigan won as convincingly as the scoreline would suggest, and neither manager Carlo Ancelotti nor his captain, John Terry, sought refuge in the excuse that the result hinged on Petr Cech's red card, in the 50th minute.
"When you go to places like Wigan, you've got to match them," said Terry. "Match their work-rate and their effort. You've got to win your headers and your tackles, and we simply didn't do that. It's not good enough. The least we expect from every player is that we work hard and fight.
"All the other sides around us in the table had emphatic wins and we've gone and thrown away three points. It's a case of disappointment all round. The manager has stressed that, and we all feel it."
Terry added it was "vital" Chelsea "bounce back" in the Champions League tie away to Apoel Nicosia on Wednesday.
Cech is suspended for Sunday's visit of Liverpool after his red card and Ashley Cole, who was carried off with a knee injury, will miss the Nicosia trip and Liverpool's visit. Ancelotti tried to play down the significance of the Liverpool game.
"Every game is important, not just Liverpool," he said. "Liverpool are a good team and it will be a very difficult game, but we are playing at home and will be looking for a good reaction to the loss at Wigan."
Ancelotti admitted he had been "surprised" by the quality of the opposition's play, perhaps understandable, given Wigan had lost 4-0 to Arsenal the previous week and 5-0 to Manchester United earlier in the season. However, in contrast, they had been good enough to win 2-0 at Aston Villa on the opening day and to defeat West Ham a fortnight ago, and with good new players settling in, they were always going to improve under the enlightened tutelage of Roberto Martinez.
This was a major step forward - the first time in 35 attempts Wigan had beaten one of the Big Four, and Hull City away next Saturday offers the prospect of further progress into the top half of the table.
Martinez earned a favourable reputation at Swansea, transforming the down-at-heel Welsh club into one of the most attractive footballing teams outside the Premier League. Now, despite the sale of Antonio Valencia, he is instilling his pleasing principles in his new charges to rewarding effect.
Hendry Thomas, acquired from the same Honduran club as Wilson Palacios, is a like-for-like replacement whose ball-winning capability stymied the Chelsea midfield, and in attack Jason Scotland, recruited from Swansea, tormented Terry and Ricardo Carvalho to a rare degree with his intelligent movement and quicksilver pace.
Of the players Martinez inherited, Paul Scharner has morphed from a defender into a clever, roaming midfielder and Titus Bramble, at centre half, at long last looks like fulfilling the potential that persuaded the late, lamented Bobby Robson to spend five million pounds to take him to Newcastle. Bramble scored the first goal, a firm, downward header from the edge of the six-yard box when the Chelsea defence, and Didier Drogba in particular, were caught napping at a corner. Wigan went on to dominate the first half and were unfazed when Drogba equalised, courtesy of Chris Kirkland's careless hands, in the 47th minute.
Cech was sent off for hacking down Hugo Rodallega, who got up to make short work of the penalty, and Wigan, who had been the better side against 11 men, were never going to concede against 10.
Scharner capped an excellent afternoon's work with a tap-in as an entertaining match went into added time.
(- Guardian Service)
