Rodders was on target twice to deny The Clarets

A question of ethics for you all now. You’re in position to slot the ball into the back of the net, but the opposing goalkeeper is lying injured on the ground. Is it morally right or just plain stupid to kick the ball out of play for the goalie to have treatment, when you have a clear and certain opportunity to easily roll the ball over the goal line? Faced with that situation this afternoon, I’m sure Hugo Rodallega would have been berated by the powers that be at Wigan Athletic had he done the former.

After all, this is the very top flight of English football. Chivalrous moments such as the scenario described can and do happen in Sunday league matches, but are few and far between in the dog-eat-dog, big money world of the Premier League. It’s just outright bad luck that Burnley found their own keeper, Brian ‘The Beast’ Jensen, in said unfortunate situation at approximately 3:11PM today, doubly so as he’d already made two cracking saves up until this point.

Yes, Rodders had to put it away, no question.

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It wasn’t exactly the kind of performance that’s going to get you in the first few games on Match of the Day — especially considering the high number of goals scored in the Premier League today — but it was Latics’ first home points of the season, and that’s all that matters.

You can grit it out for ninety minutes away from home, give your all defensively but still concede the killer goal in the final minute to come away with nothing. This was nothing like the Everton game, though. Whereas the Latics goal was pretty much pummelled for ninety minutes that afternoon, things were much more even today. Martinez predicted an open game, and so it proved to be.

It wasn’t glamorous, but in the end it got the job done. Roberto had tweaked the starting line-up from the aforementioned Everton game, with Paul Scharner consigned to the bench, and a now fully-fit Chris Kirkland returning from injury. The latter had a bit of work to do, but managed to repel all shots — including a potentially dangerous deflection which he managed to tip round his left post — and retain his clean sheet.

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