Wigan Athletic 0 Sunderland 3: Story of the day after Bailey Wright goal and two Ross Stewart penalties in Alex Neil's first win
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The Black Cats had won just one of their last ten matches but took the lead in the second minute when Bailey Wright headed home Alex Pritchard’s free-kick.
Two penalties from Ross Stewart then gave Alex Neil his first win as Sunderland boss against a side which sit second in the League One table.
Here’s how the game played out:
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LIVE: Wigan Athletic 0 Sunderland 3 (Wright, 2) (Stewart, 38, 87)
Key Events
- Sunderland XI: Patterson, Winchester, Wright, Xhemajli, Cirkin, Matete, Evans, Gooch, Embleton (Clarke, 78), Pritchard (Neil, 82), Stewart
- Subs: Hoffmann, Hume, Neil, Dajaku, Neil, Roberts, Defoe
- Wigan XI: Amos, Darikwa, Whatmough, Tilt, McClean, Naylor, Power, Lang, Edwards (Shinnie, 69), Magennis (Humphrys, 60)
- Subs: Jones, Watts, Massey, Bennett, Rea, Shinnie, Humphrys
What to make of that side
Well that is certainly a bit of a surprise, though Alex Neil did have a lengthy chat with Xhemajli as the players walked onto the pitch upon their arrival.
The Sunderland boss was asked about the defender on Friday and said it would be a big ask for him to come back into the first team following such a lengthy injury.
Neil has clearly decided that Callum Doyle needs a rest, though, and the Manchester City loanee isn’t even in the squad today.
Sunderland played with a back three and wing-backs against Burton on Tuesday and may do so again with Carl Winchester as a right-sided centre-back.
Predicted line-ups
Here are the sides we think could start today.
Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson; Winchester, Batth, Wright, Cirkin; Matete, Evans; Gooch, Pritchard, Clarke; Stewart
Predicted Wigan XI: Amos; Massey, Whatmough, Tilt, Darikwa; Power, Naylor; Lang, Keane, McClean; Magennis
Wigan team news
Wigan manager Leam Richardson could have a welcome selection dilemma on his hands for the visit of Sunderland.
Stephen Humphrys was dropped to the bench for the midweek trip to Wycombe, despite having scored the opener in the 1-1 draw at Rotherham.
However, it was the introduction off the bench of Humphrys and Gwion Edwards at Adams Park which inspired the Latics to come from a goal down to win 3-1 and make it four games unbeaten in Sky Bet League One.
The Latics are currently second in the table, six points behind leaders Rotherham with two games in hand.
The inside track on Wigan
To find out more about today’s opponents, we caught up with Chris Marsh from The Pie at Night Podcast.
Here’s what he said about the mood at the DW Stadium:
“I’d say we’re confident based on our respective league positions and form, but it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. A big away following, and the same in the home ends should make for a great atmosphere.
“A few weeks back it looked like this match might have had more significance to it but with Sunderland’s drop off in form and results, our cushion of points and games in hand mean it’s probably more of a must win for them than us.
“That said, if we have ambitions of catching Rotherham and trying to win the league, we can’t be dropping points.”
Read more HERE
