Jacobs’ cracker gets Latics off to a flyer
PAUL COOK’S Wigan Athletic consolidated their place at the top with a 4-0 win at struggling AFC Wimbledon.
Latics had to wait until the 57th minute for Michael Jacobs to break the deadlock.
Nick Powell, Max Power (below) and Ivan Toney piled on the misery after Dons midfielder Harry Forrester was sent off.
Shrewsbury remain second after a 1-0 home win over Blackpool, secured by a 54th-minute goal from midfielder Jon Nolan.
Blackburn are still third after they beat play-off hopefuls Charlton 2-0 through Leon Best’s own goal and Danny Graham’s stoppage-time strike.
Fourth-placed Bradford snatched a 2-1 win at Southend with a last-minute penalty from Charlie Wyke after Ryan Leonard saw red.
Play-off chasing Scunthorpe also had a man sent off as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by MK Dons.
They had a 2-1 lead when Neal Bishop was shown a red card for elbowing Chuks Aneke, who later equalised.
Mark Byrne scored twice as Gillingham pulled clear of the relegation zone with a 4-1 home win over Bristol Rovers.
Chris Long’s double helped Northampton beat Walsall 2-1. Erhun Oztumer had given the Saddlers the lead after just 70 seconds.
Both teams finished with 10 men when Town’s Matt Crooks and Amadou Bakayoko were dismissed late on.
Semi Ajayi scored a last-gasp equaliser as 10-man Rotherham fought back to draw 1-1 with Plymouth.
The Millers had defender Richard Wood dismissed after half-time.
Bury remain bottom after a 1-0 loss at Portsmouth, where defender Matt Clarke scored after the hour mark.
Eoin Doyle equalised with just two minutes left to earn Oldham a 1-1 draw at Doncaster.
Rovers had gone in front just before the hour when defender Andy Butler headed in.
Rochdale picked up a point with a goalless home draw against Oxford, but results elsewhere saw them drop into the bottom four.
ANDREAS WEIMANN came back to haunt his old club with the opening goal to set Derby on their way in the Midlands clash at Pride Park.
The Austria international scored after a mistake by Glenn Whelan before Johnny Russell secured the Rams’ fifth win in six games.
Boss Gary Rowett thought the way his team opened the match set the tone for the afternoon.
“It’s probably the best start we’ve had all season,” he said.
“That was something we wanted to do; with a little bit more composure at times we could have had more.
“It’s another game where we can say we know we can play better but we’ve kept a clean sheet, defended brilliantly and it’s another excellent result.”
Villa manager Steve Bruce accused his team of handing Derby the win. “In the first 20 minutes we made so many mistakes,” he said.
“From the very first minute, we put them through and didn’t really recover.
“We made far too many errors and when we analyse it we’ll look and think for all that we huffed and puffed, we’ve gifted them the game.”
Villa’s injury problems were highlighted by Josh Onomah playing as a striker but it was their defence that came under pressure from the start as Derby were quicker out of the blocks.
The visitors appeared to have settled but in the 24th minute, a dreadful ball from Whelan put Vydra clear and his pass was turned in at the back post by Weimann.
Derby almost got a second before the break but Vydra’s ball lacked accuracy and although Conor Hourihane had Villa’s first effort on target in stoppage time, it had been a poor first half for the visitors.
They started the second with more urgency and almost equalised soon after the restart when Albert Adomah’s cross was flicked on by Onomah and Robert Snodgrass saw his shot blocked on the line by Richard Keogh.
The defender was involved at the other end on the hour when his firm header from a free-kick was held by Johnstone, who had to dash out of his goal to clear as Derby threatened again.
Johnstone again showed quick reactions in the 68th minute when he just beat Vydra to a loose pass from Mile Jedinak and he turned over a Bradley Johnson header two minutes later.
Villa were giving the ball away too often and Onomah’s wild shot from outside the box in the 76th minute summed up their growing frustration, although Grealish remained a threat.
Scott Hogan glanced a header wide as Villa finally started to press in the closing stages.
But Derby defended strongly and sealed victory in the first minute of added time when Keogh sent Russell clear to slide the ball under Johnstone.
Russell was then denied a second by the keeper but Derby had done more than enough to beat a Villa side who were second best by some distance.