Ipswich Town 0-1 Wigan Athletic - Half-Time Tuesday, 19th Apr 2022 20:46 Will Keane’s goal just before half-time has given Wigan Athletic a 1-0 half-time lead over the Blues at Portman Road. Cameron Burgess, Matt Penney, Conor Chaplin and Macauley Bonne returned as manager Kieran McKenna made four changes from the side which lost 1-0 at Rotherham on Saturday. Penney came in at left wing-back for Dominic Thompson, who dropped to the bench, with Burgess returning to the left of the back three following his one-match suspension with Elkan Baggott also among the subs. Chaplin started as one of the number 10s with Sone Aluko missing out having suffered an injury at Rotherham on Saturday and Bonne was the out-and-out striker with James Norwood on the bench. Janoi Donacien was OK to take his place on the right of the defence having been a doubt with a knock. Wigan made three changes from the tea which lost 2-1 at home to Cambridge at the weekend with Jason Kerr, Joe Bennett and Stephen Humphrys coming into the XI. Former Blues striker Keane started and ex-winger Gwion Edwards was among the subs. After the two teams had taken a knee to applause, Wigan started on the front foot with skipper Tendayi Darikwa hitting a low shot from the right of the box through to Town keeper Christian Walton in the second minute. However, Town quickly got on top, passing the ball around confidently and in the seventh minute, after a lengthy spell of possession, Chaplin sent Donacien away on the right but the defender’s low cross was turned behind by Kerr. Wes Burns broke quickly into the visitors’ half following a Wigan ball into the Blues’ box in the 12th minute before feeding Bonne, who moved it on to Penney to his left from where the wing-back struck a shot past the angle of bar and post. On 16, Chaplin misread Bonne’s run with the Blues in a promising position in the final third, the striker going one way and the pass the other. Moments later, Chaplin fed in Bersant Celina to his right and the Kosovan international struck a low effort from the edge of the box which was too close to Latics keeper Ben Amos. The Blues continued to take the game to the Lancastrians and in the 18th minute Celina floated a ball towards Bonne from the left but just too far in front of the on-loan QPR man. Two minutes later, skipper Sam Morsy took a pot shot from just outside the area - something Town seemed to be making a point of doing more frequently than in previous games - which Amos couldn’t hold onto and it was eventually bundled away ahead of the lurking Bonne. Town maintained their dominance, passing the ball around confidently and controlling the game with Wigan unable to get a foothold. On 26 Kell Watts was shown the game’s first yellow card for a foul on Chaplin on the right. Celina looped the ball in and it dropped loose before being cleared. It was subsequently returned and headed out for a corner. The Blues kept up the pressure and on 33 went close twice. Chaplin’s first effort was blocked and fell to Celina on the edge of the box from where he struck another shot which hit and defender and fell to Bonne, who was in an offside position. As the half moved into its final five minutes, Morsy was booked for a clash with Joe Bennett as Town prepared to take a corner on the left. The Wigan defender took to the turf holding his face but Morsy had appeared to do nothing other than move his face towards the one-time Cardiff man’s. When the flag-kick was taken, Bennett held onto Morsy but with referee Will Finnie waving away Town protests for a penalty with the crowd making their annoyance known. The same happened at a subsequent Town corner from which Wigan broke towards the Blues goal before Luke Woolfenden halted their progress with a foul on Humphrys five yards outside the box, which resulted in the centre-half’s booking. The free-kick led to a corner from which the Latics went in front, moments before the fourth official raised his board. Following a short corner on the right, Bennett whipped the ball to the near post and ex-Town striker Keane flicked a header across goal and into the corner of the net. The Blues were unable to hit back in the remaining minutes and went in behind, somewhat harshly on the overall balance of the half, with referee Finnie booed as he made his way to the tunnel. Aside from the opening two minutes and the goal, the half had been all Town. The Blues had dominated and had worked themselves a number of opportunities but perhaps no clear-cut chances with Amos worked but not overly tested. The goal was a typical sucker-punch set-piece goal with Keane cupping his hand to his ear as he celebrated in front of his old fans. Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess, Burns, Bakinson, Morsy (c), Penney, Chaplin, Celina, Bonne. Subs: Hladky, Baggott, Thompson, Carroll, El Mizouni, Norwood, Pigott. Wigan: Amos, Kerr, Whatmough, Watts, Darikwa (c), Power, Naylor, Bennett, Lang, Keane, Humphrys. Subs: Jones, Pearce, Cousins, Shinnie, Aasgaard, Massey, Edwards. Referee: Will Finnie (Luton).
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