Wigan edge Wednesday in five-goal thriller
PAUL COOK could not hide his joy at watching his Wigan Athletic side see off Sheffield Wednesday to kick off life back in the Championship in style.
Michael Jacobs was the hero for last season’s League One title winners, grabbing a brace either side of Atdhe Nuhiu’s equaliser in a swashbuckling first half at the DW Stadium in which the Latics winger also hit the bar.
Wigan picked up where they left off after the restart as Nick Powell bundled the ball home from close range to make it 3-1 on the hour mark before Fernando Forestieri pulled one back for Wednesday seven minutes later, nodding home past helpless Wigan goalkeeper Christian Walton.
And there was still time for Wigan substitute James Vaughan to hit the bar and have a goal chalked off for offside, as well as for Nuhiu to pick up a second yellow right on full time.
“It was just a great advert for football wasn’t it?” said the Wigan boss.
“Probably the sending-off tainted it a little bit at the end, but the game was played in a very good spirit.
“It had everything you’d want when you go to a football match... goals, entertainment, hitting the woodwork, goals disallowed.
“To play a side as strong at this level as Sheffield Wednesday, with the support they brought, I thought our lads handled the occasion so well.
“It was a very strong team performance and, in my opinion, a very deserved win.”
For Wednesday manager Jos Luhukay, it was a disappointing way to kick off the campaign.
“I was surprised with the lack of stability we had in our defending,” he admitted.
“We’ve had so much progression over the last few months since the end of last season, and today we gave so many chances away.
“This is not what we can do. We have to be much better and we have to get better very quickly.
“I’m not so much worried as disappointed. You expect more than we got today. There was a good feeling at the start in the team, but we didn’t have any control.”
Luhukay added: “We lost every second ball, every third ball, and if that happens you don’t get the confidence to be able to play.
“The opponent starts to think they are stronger, that they can make chances, and score the goals to win the game.
“I know we can play football; I have seen it many times. But when you don’t have the trust, you don’t have the stability, you don’t get the feeling you can win the game.”
The Wednesday boss also didn’t have much complaint with the sending-off of Nuhiu for clattering Wigan centre-back Chey Dunkley shortly after he’d been cautioned for a bad foul.
“The first yellow card I think was correct,” the Wednesday boss added.
“The second yellow card, I can’t see exactly what the referee saw.
“But it’s stupid; when you already have a yellow, you can’t take the chance.”