LATICS 0 - 2 FC TIMISOARA Latics boys go down to Romanian Champions League side qualifiers in Austria

LATICS 0

FC TIMISOARA 2
Karamayan 11
Bucur 18

Latics in Austria - Day Four

BY ED JONES

Two early lapse of concentration against a very strong Timisoara side proved to be the difference between the sides after another surprisingly competitive pre-season game, held at the ground of St Veit.

Latics toiled hard in the searing midday sun against a team who are several weeks ahead in terms of fitness and start their season in a few days time, and Roberto Martinez, who made nine changes at half time, said the result was 'irrelevant'.

"What interests me is how the players performed on the day," he said, "and this was another fantastic training exercise against a team who were fitter than us and gave us a real challenge."

He added: "I think we took another big step forward. '

Martinez declared he was pleased with the overall picture of how the side is progressing.

"Austria is about assessing the squad," he says, "looking at every player individually and trying them in different positions if we need to, like we did with Maynor at centre half and Emmerson at right back. I also tried Won Hee Cho at right back the other day too, to try and assess my options."

Talking about the game he said: "They played their first eleven, and begin their Champions League games next week so for them they are virtually at match fitness level.

"I was pleased with a lot aspects of our game, and although I was disappointed with the way we conceded the goals, they came from basic defensive errors, and we can work on preventing those sort of mistakes from happening again."

In a high tempo game, Latics did forge a number of chances after going two goals down so early, and some of the build up play and passing moves throughout were excellent.

The highlight of those before the break were probably a terrific combination down the left channel between Erik Edman and Jason Koumas which saw Jordi Gomez skip past a couple of tackles before rifling in a great shot, which was well saved.

Daniel de Ridder also had a good chance, this time coming in from the other side, latching on to a long ball from Paul Scharner, knocked down by Mario Melchiot. De Ridder rode two challenges on the edge of the box before his shot went just wide.

All change again at half-time, and within a minute of the restart, Tomasz Kupisz spun brilliantly in the box, only to see his shot scrape the outside of the post.

Charles N'Zogbia had another terrific opportunity when he powered towards goal from the right, his effort flying just over.

Late substitute Joe Holt almost scored a late consolation when he latched on to the ball following a mistake by Romanian keeper Costel Pantilimion, however with the open goal beckoning, his effort was cleared off the line.

For the record, the Timisoara goals came in the first 18 minutes. The first goal came when Arman Karamyan found a yard of space on the edge of the area and shot low to Chris Kirkland's left. The second came from a defensive error, the unmarked Gigel Bucur drilling home from point blank range.

LATICS FIRST HALF

Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Edman, Cattermole, Thomas de Ridder, Gomez, Koumas, Rodallega

LATICS SECOND HALF

Kirkland, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Edman, Brown, Cho, N'Zogbia (Holt 84), Cywka, Bouaouzan, Kupisz

Subs not used: Pollitt, Routledge

FC TIMISOARA

Taborda, Badoi, Brezinsky, Scutaru, Llatovlevici, Stancu, Borbely, Vrsic, Maxim, Magera, Ionescu

Subs: Goblish, Kosoknian, Popa, Kicu, Luchin, Mera

Match pictures courtesy of GEPA pictures