Wigan continued their impressive run of victories against fellow play off contenders Nottingham Forest with four goals in a comprehensive demolition of Billy Davies’ not so merry men.
Uwe Rosler altered his line up from the team that defended stoutly at Brighton last week, recalling Jordi Gomez and Forest old boy James Perch for Josh McEachran and Ivan Ramis respectively.
Wigan were the dominant side during the early exchanges with slick passing and a dominant midfield creating problems for the home side with McClean and Waghorn’s pace a constant threat for the away side although both Waghorn and Maynard should have done better with the chances created for them.
Forest struggled to create any clear cut chances but were handed the chance of opening the goalscoring when Leon Barnett’s back pass failed to reach Al Habsi and Cox nipped in to steal the ball but with only the keeper to beat, a loss of composure saw the ball go wide of the net much to Barnett’s relief
Wigan took the lead after man of the match Jordi Gómez’s sharp shot, following a neat one two with McArthur took a deflection off a defender and Waghorn put the ball into the net with Darlow stranded in the Forest goal to the delight of the travelling Wigan fans.
Forest failed to create any response before the break as Wigan increased their stranglehold on possession and half time saw the home side depart to a crescendo of boos.
Forest, no doubt stung by the half time team talk started the second half with increased motivation and for the first ten minutes of the second half were the better side with Mackie particularly looking dangerous on the wing. From one foray into the Wigan half Mackie forced Beausejour to commit to a tackle earning the foul on the edge of the area and with the home fans baying for a penalty, Mr Attwell pointed for a free-kick to the relief of the Wigan players.
This gave Forest fresh impetus and a few seconds later they were level ,when a deflected Mackie cross found Cox whose through ball put Paterson in a shooting position and his deflected shot beat Al Habsi to give Forest an undeserved equaliser
Mackie’s dominance down the right wing for Forest saw Beausejour replaced by Crainey as Rosler sought to strengthen his defence.
Wigan re-grouped quickly and with McArthur, Gomez and McCann on form, their dominance was rewarded when from a partially cleared corner, the ball fell to Waghorn outside the area and his powerful shot was headed home by Boyce.
.Latics continued to press forwards showing an attacking desire that was sadly lacking in the early part of the season and increased their lead when a partly cleared shot fell to McArthur on the edge of the penalty area and his powerful shot gave the keeper no chance and it was game over.
Again Wigan failed to sit back on their hard earned lead and substitutes Fortune and McClean both went close before in the dying embers of the game a wonderful strike from way outside the area by Gomez flew into the net giving the scoreline a one sided feel, which on the afternoon’s play was merited.
Full time whistle saw Wigan move into the play off places above Reading and with Derby losing and QPR and Reading only scraping draws, the Latics go into the business end of the season as the team on form.
Line Up
Al Habsi, Perch, Boyce, Barnett , Beausejour ( Crainey), McArthur, Gomez, McCann, Waghorn (Tunnicliffe), Maynard (Fortune), McClean
Man of the Match
Jordi Gomez……………..A sublime performance by the mercurial Spaniard.
Att 23,114
Ref……….Stuart Attwell
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