Emmerson Boyce risked life and limb for Latics' first goal.

I’m not sure who’ll be most pleased with a point today, as all things considered it was a fairly even contest. Perhaps Wigan will be slightly more disappointed having had a glorious chance to go 3-2 up with just stoppage time to play via a 90th minute penalty.

One thing’s for certain, it would have been an exciting watch for a neutral, perhaps so much so that it could be the first game on Match of the Day tonight, but we all know that’s never going to happen. Even if today’s game finished 7-7 it would probably be second last, but enough BBC bashing for now.

Right, now to the shambles that was the officiating in those dying moments. I had no qualms with any decision — even the first-half Scharner non-penalty (never a foul), which Sky buffs seemed to think should have been given for some reason — up until the penalty. A foul, no doubt, but had the linesman actually been awake he would have seen that Jordi Gomez was a good couple of yards offside in the buildup – not that Wigan would have been complaining at all.

In the end, justice was served thanks to a quite frankly appalling Rodallega penalty saved by Thomas Sorensen. Did the big Colombian bottle it? Certain souls at JWAW towers reckon he should have just blasted it down the centre. However, it must be noted that Rodders was not helped by a linesman that, perhaps looking to make up for his mistake, failed to notice the Stoke keeper three yards off his goal line when the ball was struck. Ah, the wonders of technology, eh?

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