This is how it played out as Sunderland climb FOURTH with emphatic win at Wigan Athletic

Tony Mowbray’s side sit fourth in the table ahead of Friday’s fixtures after an emphatic win at the DW Stadium.

The game had been finely poised after Will Keane cancelled out Ellis Simms’ opener, but Mowbray deployed his bench to devastating effect as Ross Stewart, Patrick Roberts and then finally Amad got on the scoresheet.

Amad had saved the best until last, a glorious long-range effort that left the away end in absolute delirium.

Mowbray had been forced to change system and a raft of personnel due to injuries and fatigue, but in a stop-start opening period it was his side who looked the more fluid and the more dangerous. They had the first effort of the game when Ba, deployed as one of two number tens alongside Amad, got free down the left flank and stood up a cross to the back post. Hume leapt highest but couldn’t generate the power to beat Jones, who had an easy save.

Ba was impressing and thought he had given his side the lead when Simms cut the Wigan defence open with a good touch. Jones saved from Amad, and then somehow clawed Ba’s effort away on the line. It was only a temporary reprieve. Clarke cut a corner back into the area and when Hume crossed into the six-yard box, Simms was there to nod home from around a yard.

Wigan were benefiting from one or two loose passes even as Michut did well on his full debut, but it was the visitors who continued to look the more likely on the break. The game was turned around in a period of a few minutes where Wigan equalised but both sides hit the woodwork.

It was McClean who did so first, meeting a corner on the edge of the area and hitting an excellent volley off the far post. Sunderland swept up the other end and after another good link up between Ba and Simms, Amad cut inside onto his favoured left foot and rocked an effort off the underside of the bar.

Simms then lost possession just inside his own half and when Aasgard took aim from long range, Patterson could only palm his effort into the path of Keane who had an easy finish. It was an error from the young goalkeeper and gave Wigan a parity that they hadn’t really deserved at the break.

The game continued along a similar pattern at the start of the second half, Sunderland occasionally a delight on the break and occasionally giving their opposition a real sniff of goal with an error in possession. That was summed up when Ba curled an effort just wide of the near post before O’Nien had to recover from his own error to deny Lang at close range.

Those errors were becoming increasingly common and so it was little surprise that Mowbray turned to the experience on his bench. Within minutes, he had the lead. Substitute Patrick Roberts drove into the box and when he was tripped up Stewart stepped up to score, though Jones did get a hand to his penalty and almost saved.

Sunderland had to ride out a wave of pressure as injuries and fatigue continued to mount, but Wigan were struggling to pick up Roberts and eventually it paid off. Lovely work down the right allowed the Black Cats to work the ball into the box, and a wicked deflection left Jones helpless.

Amad then added the finishing touch, teaming up again with Roberts before unfurling a stunning effort that left Jones merely throwing his arms in the air.

Wigan Athletic XI: Jones; Darikwa, Tilt, Hughes (Nyambe, 16), McClean; Power, Naylor; Lang (Edwards, 74), Keane, Aasgaard (Shinnie, 62); Fletcher

Subs: Amos, Cousins, Scully, Broadhead, Bennett

Sunderland AFC: Patterson; O’Nien, Ballard, Wright, Hume; Neil, Michut (Pritchard, 61 (Matete, 68)), Ba (Dajaku, 71); Amad, Clarke (Roberts, 61), Simms (Stewart, 61)

Subs: Bass, Bennette

Bookings: McClean, 11 Ballard, 59 Tilt, 61

Attendance: 14,615 (4,495 away)