Wigan Athletic 2-3 Ipswich Town - Match Report Saturday, 17th Dec 2016 17:11 David McGoldrick netted an 88th minute winner as the Blues beat Wigan Athletic 3-2 in a rollercoaster game at the DW Stadium. Brett Pitman put Town in front from the penalty spot in the seventh minute before Yanic Wildschut scored two goals either side of the break to give the Latics the lead. But Pitman’s second of the game and then sub McGoldrick’s header won the points for the Blues. Brett Pitman put the Blues ahead from the penalty spot in the seventh minute but Yanic Wildschut equalised for Wigan on 35 to leave the scores level at half-time. Pitman, Andre Dozzell, Jonny Williams, Freddie Sears and Jonas Knudsen all started for the Blues as Mick McCarthy made five changes from the team which lost 2-1 at Birmingham on Tuesday. Knudsen returned to his usual left-back role having recovered from the hamstring injury, which saw him miss the game at St Andrew’s. Dozzell, making his first Championship start of the season, and Williams, making his first start of his fourth spell at the club, lined-up ahead of Cole Skuse in a central midfield three. Up front, Pitman started as the central striker with Tom Lawrence on the left and Freddie Sears on the right. Myles Kenlock, David McGoldrick, Grant Ward, Luke Varney and Jonathan Douglas all dropped to the bench. Wigan made three changes with the injured Craig Morgan, Shaun MacDonald and Luke Garbutt dropping out and Dan Burn, Jordi Gomez and Andy Kellett coming into the team. The Blues, in their Barcelona-esque third kit, had the better of the opening few minutes of a game which started in fog, although not thick enough to impact on players or watching supporters. The match stopped in the fourth minute when Pitman and Burn clashed heads and required treatment before continuing. Town continued to dominate the early stages and in the seventh minute were awarded a penalty. Lawrence, who played for Wigan boss Warren Joyce during his time coaching Manchester United’s youngsters, skipped into the area and referee Keith Stroud judged that he was tripped by Burn as he entered the penalty area, much to the anger of the Latics players and crowd. Pitman took the responsibility from the spot and sent the ball low to Jussi Jaaskelainen’s left and into the net to claim his second goal - and second penalty - of the season. Town continued to play with a freedom rarely seen this season and ought to have been two in front in the 12th minute when Wigan skipper Stephen Warnock gifted the ball to Lawrence on the edge of the box but the on-loan Leicester man’s touch let him down and Jaaskelainen claimed. Moments later, Skuse sent Sears away on the left but the former West Ham man’s shot was blocked. On 13 Pitman was yellow-carded for kicking the ball away as Wigan prepared to take a freekick on halfway, then three minutes later Dozzell joined him in the book for pulling back Michael Jacobs. The home side forced Bartosz Bialkowski into action for the first time from the resultant freekick, Will Grigg diverting Jordi Gomez’s cross goalwards. However, Bialkowski reacted quickly to stick out a hand to stop it and in any case the linesman had raised his flag. Wigan were starting to come more into the game and in the 22nd minute Bialkowski had to come off his line quickly to claim ahead of Max Power after a mistake by Adam Webster. But the Blues were still largely on top and in the 26th minute, after Lawrence had crossed from the left following a corner, Dozzell hit a shot from the edge of the box which deflected wide. From the resultant flag-kick, Pitman flicked it on and the loose ball fell to skipper Luke Chambers, who hooked a volley well over. There was a scare at the other end a minute later when Jacobs’s cross flicked off a Town player and found Grigg but Bialkowski claimed his header. However, Wigan got back on terms in the 35th minute. Gomez’s initial freekick hit the wall but as he brought the ball away Sears was penalised for a high boot. The second freekick was played short to Max Power, who smashed a shot goalwards. Bialkowski saved but could only knock the ball back into the danger zone and Wildschut netted the rebound from close range. The goal gave Wigan and their fans a huge lift and the Latics went looking for a second. On 38 scorer Wildschut saw a strike blocked, then in the 41st minute Power skipped through the Blues midfield and hit a low shot which was destined for the corner of the net until Bialkowski somehow managed to get down to his right to palm it past the post. In the final scheduled minute of the first half Kellett was booked for a foul on Williams but Lawrence’s ball into the box was cleared. Burn joined him in the book in injury time for a high boot as Pitman sought to nod the ball into the area when he would have been through one-on-one. After the initial freekick was cleared, Chambers sent the ball back in from the right and the ball eventually fell to Williams, who slammed a low shot against the post. The ball stayed in play and Williams crossed back in from the left and the ball struck a Wigan player on his hand, according to vociferous and lengthy protests from the Town players. Referee Stroud only awarded a corner, then before Lawrence could take it Jaaskelainen talked himself into the book. Soon after referee Stroud’s ended the half and was loudly booed off by home fans for the early penalty, although the Town players might have been equally aggrieved regarding the decision just before the end. After starting very well and claiming their lead - even if the penalty may have been fortuitous - the Blues should have made their dominance count more and Lawrence will have been disappointed not to have taken his chance. However, rather than continuing to grab the game by the scruff of the neck Town seemed to go into themselves and allowed Wigan back into the game. And having got on terms the home side got themselves on top, although Williams was unlucky not to restore the lead when he hit the post and the Blues players seemed adamant they ought to have been awarded a second penalty just before half-time. The home side started the second half - played in thicker fog - the stronger, on 49 Wildschut cut in from the left and hit a shot which Bialkowski claimed, then the Dutchman struck another effort wide. Soon after, Wildschut created more danger when he cut the ball across from the left to the edge of the six-yard box but Knudsen turned it over his own bar. Town switched Dozzell, who had drifted out of the game having started the game promisingly, like the Blues side as a whole, and Williams for Bru and McGoldrick. But the home side continued to look the more dangerous of the two teams. On 57 Kellett crossed from the left, Bialkowski did well to save Grigg’s flick and then Buxton headed back straight at the Town keeper. Two minutes later, Wildschut crossed low from the left towards Grigg but Berra did well to cut it out. However, a second Wigan goal wasn’t too much longer in coming and again Wildschut was the man on target. The ex-Middlesbrough man took the ball past Chambers and then Webster and into the area before hitting a shot from a tight angle which flew past Bialkowski. The now-confident Latics kept up the pressure and on 64 Power hit a low shot from 20 yards which Bialkowski stopped before claiming the loose ball ahead of Grigg. Town hadn’t been at the races at all in the second half, but in the 68th minute entirely against the run of play the Blues levelled. Knudsen’s cross was eventually played to McGoldrick, who laid it to Pitman, who smashed the ball past Jaaskelainen for his third goal of the campaign. Having got back on terms Town came close to conjuring another chance almost immediately but Bru was unable to find McGoldrick with his final pass. Wildschut went looking for his hat-trick at one end when he shot across the face, then Pitman felt he ought to have grabbed his when Lawrence broke down the left and cut the ball to him but the ex-Bournemouth man sent the ball well into the stand behind the goal. On 74 Sears was replaced by Ward. With the fog even thicker as the game entered its final 15 minutes the Blues began to threaten again. After good work from Bru and McGoldrick, Ward was unable to find a Town player with a cross from the right. But the momentum swung back to the Latics and the Blues spent several minutes pinned back in their half but without the home side managing to carve out a chance, aside from a Warnock effort which was flying wide before being blocked by Berra. As the match moved into its final five scheduled minutes, McGoldrick found Ward on the right but the sub’s low shot failed to test Jaaskelainen. Then at the other end Wildschut sent a dangerous ball across the Town six-yard box. But with less than two minutes remaining, the Blues won it. Bru found Ward on the right with a superb cross-field ball.The former Spurs man whipped over a cross, which McGoldrick headed into the net off the inside of the post. In four minutes of injury time McGoldrick shot over from distance, then Lawrence picked up a booking for a dissent having been harshly ruled to have committed a foul. Just before the end Wildschut again threatened to score his hat-trick but sent the ball over the bar and there were no further scares before referee Stroud confirmed Town’s third away win of the season. It was a game of three-thirds. Town were well on top and dominant in the early stages having gone in front, playing as well as they have at any stage this season, but let Wigan back into it The Latics were in charge after they scored their equaliser and should have gone on to win the game comfortably at 2-1 with the Blues very much under the cosh after the break. However, the Blues levelled again with their first attack of the second half, then played themselves back into the game and carved out the opportunity from which McGoldrick headed the winner, his third goal of the season, on the break while battling as Wigan sought to win it at the other. Late on, Wigan’s man of the match Wildschut might have netted an equaliser but the Blues weren’t to be denied three points which will make the Christmas period somewhat cheerier than it otherwise might have been. The Blues climb to 15th, eight points off the relegation zone and nine points off the play-offs. Wigan: Jaaskelainen, Kellett, Warnock (c), Buxton, Burn, Perkins (Byrne 72), Gomez, Power, Jacobs, Wildschut, Grigg. Unused: Lavercombe, Le Fondre, Davies, L Burke, Barrigan, Stubbs. Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Webster, Berra, Skuse, Dozzell (Bru 56), Williams (McGoldrick 56), Sears (Ward 74), Lawrence, Pitman. Unused: Gerken, Varney, Douglas, Kenlock. Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire). Att: 10,071 (Town: 554).
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