Relieved Cook gets a real slam Dunk
WIGAN boss Paul Cook saluted matchwinner Chey Dunkley after his deadly double sunk misfiring Charlton.
Dunkley was Latics’ unlikely hero as they claimed only their second win of the season.
Not bad for a player who didn’t score last season and who last scored twice in a game nearly two years ago.
“We’re delighted for Chey, he’s such a good lad,” said Cook after his
100th league game in charge of Latics.
“He epitomises everything that’s good about football, he gives everything that he’s got.
“We’re very fond of him, he’s one of the best lads we have.
“The lads were joking at the end of the game, they were saying they wouldn’t let him go up for a corner to try to get his hat-trick.”
Dunkley slotted home Charlie Mulgrew’s inswinging corner in the 22nd minute and then netted with a bullet header with
20 minutes remaining to condemn the Addicks to their first consecutive defeats in 2019. “It’s small steps at the minute,” said Cook.
“It’s been a tough start for us but I’m delighted to win, it was a very strong performance from us.”
Charlton manager Lee Bowyer said: “Disappointing is an understatement, that’s the worst we’ve played since I’ve been in charge.
“We created numerous chances but we were not ruthless enough in front of goal.
“There’s no positives. We should have got something out of the game as bad as we played.
“Talk of us being in the promotion race this early is rubbish.
“The Championship’s a tough league.” MAURICIO POCHETTINO was dealt a slap in the face by technology – but admitted Spurs’ away-day misery is a more pressing concern.
The Argentine took the rough with the smooth at the King Power Stadium with a shrug of his shoulders.
Of course, the video referees rescued him at The Etihad earlier this season. But yesterday he wasn’t so lucky.
However, of more immediate worry is his side’s form on their travels, a run that is putting the skids under his campaign way more than any issues with VAR.
It’s nine Premier League matches now without a victory away from North London – a sequence that stretches back to February.
Coming on the back of a two-goal lead that was squandered in Athens and a similar experience at The Emirates, the trend for Spurs this season is becoming all too familiar. And although the storyline of the afternoon in the East Midlands was dominated by the fallout from a crucial second-half decision that went against Pochettino and his side, this triumph by Brendan Rodgers’ fired-up Foxes was by no means underserved.
Harry Kane had given Spurs the lead before Serge Aurier’s 64th-minute strike was struck off by the tightest of offsides in the build-up.
That gave Leicester a boost and Ricardo Pereira levelled before James Maddison’s lovely right-foot drive from the outside of the area as the game entered its final moments. Pochettino said: “I’m not blaming the VAR system for this.
“At two-nil, the game would be different. VAR decided it.
“We all accept the system. Maybe it was, offside maybe it wasn’t – but I trust the referees.
“I need to analyse the game different way.
“The performance was good. For 83 minutes we were the best team on the pitch. It changed in the last seven minutes.
“We controlled the game but if you are asking me why we didn’t win, we need to be more consistent. We need to show a better performance.
“And we need to find a solution away from home.”
That assessment is tough on Leicester who in a