Latics host the Toon Army

 

When looking at the stats before the game, this was one of those games that could've gone either way. Newcastle had only won one Premier League away game all season, but Wigan also had nothing to boast about; they had only picked up 10 points from 14 home games this season.

When the game started, you could tell that both teams wanted the three points. Both teams were pressing high up the pitch, right from the off. Wigan took advantage of defensive rock Fabricio Coloccini being unavailable due to injury, by going all guns blazing right away. Jordi Gomez fired over from a free-kick while Shaun Maloney and Emerson Boyce also caused a few problems early on.
Newcastle had other problems; Mathieu Debuchy came off after 13 minutes, clutching his hamstring, to be replaced by Massadio Haidara. This meant that Davide Santon was playing out of position at right-back. Due to dangerous left-winger Jean Beausejour, this could prove to be a major setback for Newcastle.
As if on cue, a defensive error from out-of-position Davide Santon after a Callum McManaman cross caused the ball to fall perfectly to Beausejour, who fired home from close range. It was a deserved goal, as Wigan had held a larger threat so far.
Shortly after, the man who replaced Debuchy, Massadio Haidara, came off on a stretcher after only having played for 7 minutes, after a dangerous yet unintentional challenge from Callum McManaman, which left supporters puzzled as to why a yellow card wasn't awarded. James Perch replaced the injured Haidara, meaning skipper Jonas Gutierrez was now playing at left back, leaving Newcastle with two makeshift fullbacks. Things were not going well for the Toon Army.
Credit to Newcastle, the goal only spurred them on to try to push harder for the equalizer, with some great runs coming from Moussa Sissoko and Gutierrez. If midfield general Cheik Tiote had been less cautious with his passing, Sissoko or Gutierrez may have been through on goal. The main thing suppressing Newcastle was Wigan's brilliantly organized back three. Paul Scharner, Antolin Alcaraz and Maynor Figueroa were all superb, and their organization made life very hard for Papiss Demba Cisse and Yoan Gouffran.
Wigan almost had a second, with wonderkid James McCarthy running in on goal, only to be stopped by a brilliant tackle from Gutierrez.
Going in at half-time, Alan Pardew had some serious talking to do.
At the start of the second half, Newcastle were much more energetic, and obviously Pardew had said something inspirational. They were sharper going forward, however, the Wigan back line kept them at bay. Chances were getting less and less frequent, and Papiss Cisse blazed three consecutive oppurtunities over the bar. It was really becoming apparent that Newcastle were missing their creative geniuses Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa.  But, just after 70 minutes, two consecutive errors in possession caused Cisse to have the ball 35 yards from goal. With blue shirts closing in, he made a beautiful pass to the on-running Davide Santon. Desperate to amend his mistake leading to the first goal, he fired a low shot into the far bottom corner of the net. A fantastic finish, and his first goal for the club.
The tide had turned. Newcastle were getting more and more of the ball, and looked the team most likely to score next. Having said that, substitute James McArthur was causing Newcastle's defense some real problems on the counter attack.
The next event summed up Newcastle's unlucky afternoon. In the 89th minute, a Wigan corner resulted in a goal mouth scramble, taking many deflections, finally meeting Arouna Koné's boot and smashing into the back of the net. It was a very, very lucky goal for Wigan, and my no means did Newcastle deserve a goal like that conceded against the run of play. Credit to Koné though, he deserved that goal for his superb performance that afternoon. Despite Newcastle's best efforts to equalize again, the final whistle blew, and an air of controversy hung around the DW Stadium. Pundits will look back on the McManaman tackle on Haidara, which could've justifiably resulted in a sending off, which would almost certainly have changed the course of the game. Newcastle were also unlucky with Mathieu Debuchy being added to their ever-growing list of injured players.
 We must give full credit to Wigan, however, as they defended magnificently, and posed a credible attacking threat throughout the game as well. Perhaps this is the start of another end of the season miracle for Wigan.
Leander Winden (@LeanderWinden)