Rodallega lets his feet do the talking

Burnley 1 Wigan Athletic 3
By Ian Parkes

Monday, October 26, 2009

HUGO RODALLEGA’S English might still be a work in progress, but at the moment his feet are assuming the eloquence on his behalf.

Rodallega was again Wigan’s hero here, scoring twice in an eventually comfortable victory to end Burnley’s 100 per cent record at Turf Moor since their arrival on the Premier League stage. Although the Colombian striker has been plying his trade in the top flight since January, his language skills are still not good enough for him to face the media.

So it was left to defender Emmerson Boyce, who sealed the win with Wigan’s third, the second of his Latics career and first in 11 months, to assess Rodallega.

"As a team player he is perfect," remarked Boyce. "He is a quiet lad, but he proves how talented he is on the pitch and he is full of confidence in himself in terms of his ability.

"He works for the team, and when he needs to he pulls out important goals for us, proving just how vital he is for this club.

"He is scoring a lot of winners, chipping in with goals when we need them, and that’s what you need from a striker."

Rodallega now has five for the season, with all four of Wigan’s league wins this term coming with him on the scoresheet.

"He is a bit of a talisman – but then I could say the same about me!" joked Boyce, and rightly so as his two goals have also come in Wigan wins. "But long may it continue. If he is scoring and we’re winning, then we will take that all day long."

Rodallega’s first goal was a simple tap-in after goalkeeper Brian Jensen slipped and twisted his ankle in coming to collect an innocuous cross from Wigan captain Melchiot.

That was in the 11th minute, just seven minutes after Burnley had made the perfect start with Steven Fletcher sliding in a far post-cross from Robbie Blake for his fifth this term.

Rodallega’s second was an incisive right-footed drive from 18 yards, before Boyce finished off Burnley with a sidefooted shot from six yards as the home side poorly defended a set-piece.

With struggling Hull the visitors next Saturday, manager Owen Coyle knows his side cannot afford to slip to a third successive defeat.

"It’s never a task to pick players up, and I don’t consider it as such," said Coyle, intimating it is up to his players to sort themselves out.

"Their career is football, they’re well paid, so we will look to bounce back, and bounce back quickly.

"Nobody said this adventure was going to be easy, far from it. We knew there was going to be trials and tribulations along the way.

"Up until this game we have been formidable at home, and we will be again, so we’ll take a kick up the backside and make sure we’re ready to go again."

REFEREE: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 7: Authoritative performance from all the officials.

MATCH RATING: *** Burnley were not at their fluent best, but Wigan played some breezy stuff.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, October 26, 2009