Wigan Athletic 1 Liverpool 1

Last updated : 28 January 2009 By Footymad Previewer
New boy Mido scored on his debut to give Wigan Athletic a share of the points just when it looked as though Yossi Benayoun's first-half goal would be enough to give Liverpool the points they needed to stay hot on the heels of arch-rivals Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table.

Benayoun struck with a gem of a finish just before half-time but Mido equalised, scoring from the spot after substitute Jason Koumas had been brought down by Alvaro Arbeloa.

And, in a frantic finish, Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega rattled the Liverpool bar with a fierce free-kick as the Latics sampled life without Enile Heskey and Wilson Palacios for the first time.

To add to their problems, keeper Chris Kirkland and winger Antonio Valencia were both ruled out by injury and Titus Bramble was serving a one-match ban.

Mido was handed his first start and the two other newcomers, Ben Watson and Rodallega - who got international clearance with minutes to spare - were among the subs.

Robbie Keane was back in the Liverpool squad but had to settle for a place on the bench.

The Latics had an early let-off when Fernando Torres lost his marker 15 yards out and met Ryan Babel's cross with a glancing header.

Mike Pollitt had no chance of reaching it but saw the ball clip the inside of his left post and rebound to safety.

Wigan threatened briefly when Daniel de Ridder threaded a ball into the box but Pepe Reina was quick off the mark to clear before Amr Zaki could reach it.

Torres proved dangerous again firing wide with a shot on the turn, and the Reds should have done better when Benayoun gave Paul Scharner the slip but failed to pick out Steven Gerrard and Torres with the delivery.

Wigan were aggrieved when they had a penalty shout turned down by Phil Dowd when Scharner went down under the Gerrard's challenge after Ryan Taylor had floated in a free-kick.

Babel let fly with a real stinger at the other end but Pollitt's chest came to the rescue.

However, Pollitt was finally beaten when Benayoun latched onto a great ball from Javier Mascherano to round the keeper to slot it home from the tightest of angles.

Pollitt tipped over from Mascherano as Liverpool hunted a second and Gerrard lashed another chance wide.

Rodallega replaced Zaki for the last 14 minutes and Steve Bruce added a third striker with Henri Camera taking over from Taylor.

And the positive approach paid off with Egypt star Mido sending Reina the wrong way from the spot as regular penalty taker Zaki had already been substituted.