WIGAN ATHLETIC.......1
McCulloch 68

PORTSMOUTH............0

Lee McCulloch smashes home the winner half-way through the second half to give dominant Latics vital win.

Wigan dominated at the JJB Stadium and got their first points in nearly two months thanks to Lee McCulloch being in the right place at the right time.

Paul Jewell gave home debuts to both Julius Aghahowa and Caleb Folan, who both impressed, but it was Lee McCulloch who grabbed the vital goal half-way through the second half. Caleb Folan did enough did distract his marker whilst David Unsworth's cross came in from the left, but the ball landed perfectly for McCulloch to sneak up unmarked and smash the ball home from the edge of the box.

Latics kicked-off at a blistering pace as they but the south coast visitors on the back foot. Caleb Folan, making his home debut could have easily scored in the third minute were it not for a brilliant reaction save from goalkeeper David James. Ryan Taylor, who had a brilliant performance on the right-hand side with his versatile range of passing, saw his corner find the head of Folan, which was fiercely headed towards the target from six yards, but James parried it away to safety.

Nigerian interntional Aghahowa, signed from Shakhtar Donetsk during the week, seemed to link up an instant partnership with Folan, and the pair combined well just after the half-hour mark when Aghahowa's long pass on the counter attack released Folan. The 24-year old went one-on-one with James in the penalty area, but only a superbly time tackle from Pompey skipper Sol Campbell denied Folan a shot on goal.

McCulloch, who was playing on the left-wing, also saw his near post effort just go wide early on, and he headed just over the bar from a Taylor corner. However, despite a lot of effort and hard work, they went in at the break goalless.

Wigan continued to attack during the second half, and ten minutes after the restart Taylor, teased his marker before passing to Antonio Valencia, who squared into the box. Aghahowa held up the ball before Denny Landzaat fired a shot heading for the top corner, which James did well to stretch out and make the vital save.

Aghahowa showed his intelligent play when his impeccably timed pass through to Taylor broke Portsmouth's offside trap, and the former Tranmere man was allowed to run directly into the box before a vital tackle was made to deny the scouser a chance on target. Taylor and Landzaat also saw long range drives go wide of James' goal as the clocked counted down to the final whistle.

Pompey may well have been in the top six of the Premiership going into this fixture, but they had not won for four matches and they certainly did not look as sharp in attack. Just before the half hour mark, defender Glen Johnson played a pass through that split Wigan's defence, but Benjani amazingly failed to connect with the ball. A big let off for Latics, whilst Nkwankwo Kanu and Roudolphe Douala also saw shots hit directly at Chris Kirkland saved in an otherwise lacklustre afternoon for the Fratton Park club.

Make no mistake, this was a big win for Latics, and they certainly looked confident and composed for the whole afternoon. Even more satisfying for Paul Jewell must be how well new signings Folan and Aghahowa seamlessly integrated themselves into the team.

Latics: Kirkland; Taylor, Boyce, Jackson ©, Unsworth; Valencia (Hall 61), Skoko, Landzaat, McCulloch; Folan, Aghahowa (Johansson 85).

Substitutes: Filan, Kilbane, Haestad.

Booked: Taylor.

Portsmouth: James; Johnson, Primus, Campbell ©, Lauren (Lua Lua 53); Douala, Pamarot (Taylor 74), Mendes, Hughes; Benjani, Kanu (Cole 70).

Substitutes: Ashdown, Davis.

Booked: None.

Referee: Graham Poll (Hertfordshire)

Assistant Referees: G. Brittain and J.Flynn

Fourth Official: N. Swarbrick