Pompey take points as Latics frustrated
WIGAN Athletic caretaker manager Leam Richardson does not think that their recent results are reflecting his side’s performance levels after they fell to a narrow home defeat against Portsmouth yesterday.
Portsmouth substitute Andy Cannon scored the only goal in the 46th minute as Latics failed to make their dominance pay at the DW Stadium.
Wigan Athletic, who were hoping to record their first victory under Phoenix 2021 Limited ownership, remained unchanged for the visit of Portsmouth.
Latics lined up in an attacking 4-3-3 formation with Viv SolomonOtabor, Jamie Proctor, and Callum Lang forming the dynamic front three, while exciting Norwegian starlet Thelo Aasgaard joined Lee Evans and Funso Ojo in the engine room.
Former Latics star Michael Jacobs returned to the DW Stadium for the first time in an unchanged Portsmouth side that was missing the suspended John Marquis, Alex Bass (foot), Ellis Harrison (knee), and Jordy Hiwula (ankle).
While the Latics demonstrated a lot of determination and hunger to put Danny Cowley’s side under a lot of territorial pressure during the early stages, the Blues were almost able to catch the hosts out with a dangerous counter-attack.
Jacobs, who was playing in a much more central position against his former club, sent Ryan Williams through on the left flank with an excellent defence-splitting pass, but the Australian winger could only fizz his low cross behind the unmarked Ronan Curtis who was sprinting into the penalty area.
Despite their early scare, Latics continued their bright start to the Sky Bet League One encounter and came close to taking the lead in the 22nd minute through Jamaican international Curtis Tilt.
Defender Tilt, who has scored two headed goals for Wigan Athletic this season, was the quickest to react to Lee Evans’ deflected free-kick in the penalty area and saw his goal-bound prod hit Jake Whatmough and trickle past the far post.
While the hosts enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first half, Latics had captain Jamie Jones to thank for keeping the scores level in the 43rd minute after the experienced goalkeeper reacted tremendously to deny Williams’ powerful low drive from the edge of the area.
Pompey made a substitution at half-time with Jacobs being replaced by Cannon to directly match Latics’ 4-3-3 formation, and the latter made an immediate impact after just 36-seconds as the combative midfielder fired the visitors into the lead with a thunderous strike into the top right corner from 25-yards out.
Lang, who has often been the driving force for Richardson’s side in recent weeks, again looked the most likely for Latics, and his effort from 25-yards out deflected just wide of the right post in the 55th minute.
Pompey did not rest on their laurels after opening the scoring and threatened to double their advantage, but captain Jones was able to scramble across his goal line to make another fine save to deny Williams from Harness’ pin-point cross to the far post.
In an attempt to search for an equaliser, Will Keane came on in place of Aasgaard while Dan Gardner replaced Solomon-Otabor for the final 15-minutes.
Latics suffered a huge blow ahead of the dying stages, as Lang reluctantly made way for Joe Dodoo after the 22-year-old had a nasty head collision with Portsmouth defender Sean Raggett.
The hosts had a shout for a late penalty when Proctor appeared to be impeded as he was tussling with defender Callum Johnston to meet Evans’ cross, but referee Tom Nield was unmoved by the appeals.
After the lengthy delay from Lang and Raggett’s injuries, the officials added seven minutes of injury time as Latics looked for one final chance to rescue a point, but Portsmouth were able to hold on and extend their winning record to four games under new head coach Danny Cowley.
Following their narrow defeat and results elsewhere, Latics slipped to 23rd place, and are two points adrift from safety ahead of the final seven games of the season.
“It was another frustrating afternoon,” Richardson said.
“It is one of them where you are asking the lads to work as hard as possible and put in a performance both individually and collectively, and we’ve just fallen the wrong side of the result again. I don’t think the results are mirroring the performance levels.
“Obviously in the first half, we got into some fantastic areas in the final third, and we were just missing that little bit of calmness, that little bit of quality - and that little bit of luck. “A couple of balls just spun past the post and we didn’t quite get there on time, and I felt the frustration myself at half-time, thinking that we possibly could have come in with a one or two-goal lead.
“I thought there was a big decision with the referee just before half-time when Jamie Proctor went clear through and he (the referee) brought the game back.
“Their kid’s in all kinds of trouble and he was probably going to get himself sent off, or Jamie is about to go on and score.
“We were chasing the game and the lads gave me everything, and I cannot ask for any more.
“They gave the honesty, they gave the endeavour and we were just lacking that bit of luck.
“The work rate that we put in is a given. You must try and run harder than the opposition and run faster, and fight harder.
“I thought that we played some good football at times.
“We need to keep working hard and keep believing.”
■ Wigan Athletic will next travel to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.