Anelka Off The Mark As Chelsea Edge Wigan

Wigan Athletic 1-2 Chelsea

Nicolas Anelka scored one and made one as Chelsea overcame Wigan to advance to round five of the FA Cup.

Nicolas Anelka made the difference in this largely disappointing FA Cup fourth round tie at the JJB Stadium.

After a truly drab opening 45 minutes, the visitors took the lead as their new £15m man stabbed home Belletti’s through ball.

Shaun Wright-Phillips doubled Chelsea’s lead late on before a stunning goal from Antoine Sibierski ensured an entertaining final few minutes.

First Half

The fans clearly couldn’t be bothered with this game, perhaps due to it being televised (though why this match got the TV nod over Liverpool vs. Havant & Waterlooville only the BBC know). But despite the half empty stands both managers showed their commitment to the cup by selecting strong sides.

Avram Grant named the same XI that won at Everton: a staggered midfield formation with Makélélé holding and Anelka as a lone target man. Unsurprisingly, there was no spot on the bench for Ashley Cole post hairdresser-gate. Steve Bruce, meanwhile, replaced the recently departed Danny Landzaat with Ryan Taylor.

Chelsea could, and perhaps should have had the ball in the net within 50 seconds: Sidwell pierced the Latics defence, finding Joe Cole who beat Kirkland but fired wide. Taylor then tested Cech down the field. Chelsea maintained possession for large spells but found ball control tricky on the churned JJB surface.

Joe Cole exhibited occasional moments of skill, at one point dancing past numerous challenges to find Anelka, who stumbled in the box and rightly received no penalty. Wigan, perhaps wary of the visitors’ ability to break at pace, sat incredibly deep, enticing Chelsea to mount further pressure. But the Latics almost created something as Heskey played through Marcus Bent – the excellent Wayne Bridge was alert to the danger.

The home side attempted forays down the wings, trying to launch crosses into the box, but Chelsea’s fullbacks – impressive both pushing forward and tracking back – continuously harrowed and closed down the play. Wigan did have limited joy down the middle, however, as Bent blazed over and Alex then felled Brown ahead of what had appeared a promising move. That was the last meaningful play of this egalitarian but incredibly dull 45 minutes.

Second Half

Chelsea attacked from the off, a cross into a crowded box almost finding Sidwell.A goal looked to be on the cards, and it duly came in the shape of Nicolas Anelka. Belletti’s super ball from deep was latched onto by the Frenchman, who sprang the offside trap and poked his volley past the advancing Kirkland - his first Chelsea goal and a marvellous one at that. Wigan were visibly annoyed, remonstrating that the goal was offside, but replays showed that was not the case.

Nonetheless, the Latics almost struck back through Heskey, whose shot on the turn from a narrow angle forced Cech to save with his legs. The game remained ugly, but an off-the-ball incident involving Michael Brown, Claude Makélélé and an alleged elbow threatened to make it nasty. The entire Chelsea bench were up in arms, but no action was taken; replays suggested the Blues midfielder perhaps made more of the incident than strictly necessary and fortunately the bad blood continued no further.

Substitute Koumas bent a free-kick right at Cech, but as Wigan pushed for the equaliser they left themselves vulnerable to counter-attacks. Anelka had already been thwarted several times by goalkeeper Kirkland but went clear after out-muscling Kevin Kilbane on the ball. One-on-one with the keeper, Anelka squared for the unmarked Wright-Phillips to slot home.

Game over? Not quite – just as Wigan appeared out of ideas Koumas played a great ball into the chest of substitute Antoine Sibierski, who turned and volleyed with perfect power, pace and precision past Cech and into the top corner. Tremendous. With only minutes remaining, the game then sprang to life as Wigan chased an unlikely replay, and they almost got it as Bent’s flying shot clipped the top of the bar. But it was not to be as Chelsea held on to claim a win they merited.

Line-ups:

Wigan (4-4-2): Kirkland – Melchiot, Bramble, Scharner, Kilbane – Valencia, Brown, Palacios (Sibierski 77), Taylor (Koumas 58) – Bent, Heskey (Aghahowa 85)

Subs not used – Pollitt, Boyce

Chelsea (4-1-2-2-1): Cech – Belletti, Carvalho, Alex, Bridge – Makélélé – Wright-Phillips, Sidwell – J Cole, Malouda (Ferreira 80) – Anelka (Pizarro 90)

Subs not used – Cudicini, Sinclair, Ben-Haim

Goals:

0-1 Anelka, 53 (Belletti)
0-2 Wright-Phillips, 82 (Anelka)
1-2 Sibierski, 87 (Koumas)

Cards:

Yellow: Bramble, Scharner, Palacios, Aghahowa / Alex, Carvalho

Attendance: 14,166