Wigan Athletic 1 Bolton Wanderers 0: Wigan's six-point cushion eases Koumas dismissal

Emile Heskey's first goal for seven months yesterday gave Wigan's chances of Premier League survival a considerable boost, enabling them to overcome the challenge of their nearest neighbours despite playing for 85 minutes with only 10 men.

The red card shown to Jason Koumas might have given rise to considerable complaint from the home side had Bolton, whose own prospects now look bleak, not failed to make their numerical advantage count. The Wales midfielder – sent off four times previously, although not in the last four years – was dismissed by the referee Steve Tanner after catching Gary Cahill with his studs in a sliding tackle as the pair contested a 50-50 ball, which Koumas, as the man in possession, seemed to have every right to try to retain.

The Wigan manager Steve Bruce disclosed afterwards that he has asked the official, who is in his first full season on the Premier League list, to review the decision. He might have done so in a much different frame of mind, however, without the comfort of the six-point gap this win opened between his team and the bottom three.

"If it had been a two-footed challenge and Jason had gone in over the ball I wouldn't have argued with a red card," Bruce said. "If you go into a sliding challenge like that it is impossible not to show your studs, and crucially he has tried to get the ball.

"In my opinion it deserved a yellow card and the referee has agreed to have another look at it. I thought it was harsh, but after what happened with Martin Taylor and Eduardo that is the climate we are in. What we have to know is that if you do make a sliding challenge and you miss it, is it a straight red card? That needs to be clarified because if it is the case, then we'll know you can't take a chance."

Understandably, Wigan feared that with a man light they might struggle to contain a Bolton team substantially reinforced from the side knocked out of the Uefa Cup last Thursday. Manager Gary Megson made nine changes, yet Wigan dominated the opening half and deservedly went ahead when Heskey hooked in Mario Melchiot's long throw-in for his first goal since mid-August and only his second of the season, from 22 appearances.

They rode their luck a little, particularly when Michael Brown appeared to use a hand to keep a Kevin Davies effort from crossing the line midway through the second half, but overall contested the match much more impressively than did Bolton. Paul Scharner and Emerson Boyce were strong at the heart of the defence, Antonio Valencia menacing on the right flank and Brown and Wilson Palacios determined in midfield to make up for the loss of Koumas.

Bruce believes two more wins should be enough to secure Wigan's place in the top flight for another year. Megson, by contrast, fears Bolton will be relegated if they do not quickly accept their predicament. "We are in the bottom three and we will stay there if we don't wake up to that fact," he said. "I have heard a lot of opinions about things that happened during the game but none of that matters because we have lost to a near rival who has gone down to 10 men after five minutes.

"We have to stop talking about what we can do and start doing it a bit more. We rested a lot of players the other night because of the magnitude of this game and I did not expect the approach that we got."

Goal: Heskey (33) 1-0.

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): Kirkland; Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Edman; Valencia, Palacios (R Taylor, 90), Brown, Koumas; King (Kilbane, 58), Heskey. Substitutes not used: Pollitt (gk), Bramble, Sibierski.

Bolton Wanderers (4-1-4-1): Al Habsi; Steinsson, Cahill (McCann, 68), A O'Brien, Gardner; Campo; Diouf (J O'Brien, h-t), Nolan, Cohen (Rasiak, 42), M Taylor; Davies. Substitutes not used: Walker (gk), Meite.

Referee: S Tanner (Somerset).

Booked: Wigan: Palacios, R Taylor. Bolton: Diouf, Gardner, McCann. Sent off: Wigan: Koumas (5).

Attendance: 17,055.

Man of the match: Palacios.

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