Wigan recover pride

WIGAN, England (AFP) - Wigan bounced back from their 9-1 hammering by Tottenham with a 1-0 win over former manager Steve Bruce's Sunderland.

A 75th-minute strike by Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega was enough to secure the points against opponents who had beaten Arsenal on their last outing but were distinctly lacklustre here.

Bruce's men rarely looked like scoring and it fell to Rodallega, a player signed by Bruce during his time in Lancashire, to settle the contest after Jason Scotland had seen a first-half effort strike the woodwork.

The winner owed much to some poor defending by Paulo da Silva, who slithered to the turf as Rodallega went past him before beating Marton Fulop with a left-footed shot from an acute angle.

The Colombian should have made the points safe eight minutes later but fired straight at Fulop when he had only the Sunderland goalkeeper to beat.

Wigan held out, however, to record their first clean sheet since September 12 and there was no disputing that Roberto Martinez's side deserved the points.

Rodallega, who diverted a Charles N'Zogbia's cross into the side-netting, and Paul Scharner, who tested Fulop with a low drive, both had early chances as Wigan started in spirited fashion.

And the home side were unlucky not to go ahead when N'Zogbia dispossessed da Silva on the right of the penalty area and crossed for Scotland to hit a first-time shot which beat Fulop but rebounded back off the post.

Fulop then produced a fine finger-tip save to keep the game goalless after defender Chris Turner had deflected Rodallega's inswinging free-kick towards his own goal.

Sunderland were brighter immediately after the interval with Andy Reid going close with a shot tht dipped just over and Bent heading wide from a good position at the back post.

But Wigan reasserted themselves and Titus Bramble should have put them ahead from a cross by substitute Jordi Gomez, the centreback heading straight at Fulop.

Rodallega forced Fulop into another save and fired wide from N'Zogbia's lay-off before the Colombian finally claimed the winner the Wigan fans craved.