Wigan Athletic vs Blackpool. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Wigan Athletic and Blackpool at the DW Stadium as Marvin Ekpiteta's early red card eventually cost the Tangerines as the Latics hit back to win.
Saturday 12 November 2022 18:48, UK
Wigan started life without Leam Richardson by coming from behind to snatch a first Sky Bet Championship win in eight matches with a 2-1 victory at home to Blackpool.
Latics, with Rob Kelly in caretaker charge, were slow to settle into the game, with Blackpool striker Gary Madine firing just wide of Jamie Jones' right-hand post in the early stages.
Wigan's cause was helped inside 17 minutes, however, when the visitors were reduced to 10 men after skipper Marvin Ekpiteta was shown a straight red card.
Ekpiteta had been favourite to reach a bouncing ball first, but his hesitation allowed Charlie Wyke to toe the ball over his head.
The collision was inevitable and, with no covering defender, referee Andy Davies ruled it the denying of a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Credit to Blackpool, they began to dominate even with a man down and took the lead 11 minutes before the break.
Madine appeared to barge into defender Jack Whatmough as they contested a long ball from the back.
In the absence of a whistle, Madine controlled the ball on his chest before rifling a thunderous strike past Jones and into the top corner of the net.
Wigan were further hampered by the loss of Whatmough - last year's player of the year - through injury, with Joe Bennett coming on in his place.
The home side were struggling to get anything going and their frustration began to show when Callum Lang was given a yellow card for sarcastically applauding the official who had - finally, in the player's view - awarded him a free-kick.
That was Davies' last involvement, with a new referee coming out for the second period.
And Wigan also came out after half-time a different side, levelling the scores within nine minutes of the restart.
James McClean's inswinging corner from the right-hand side ended up in the back of the net, with Wyke cheekily claiming he got a touch on the goal-line.
It was all Wigan at this point, with another corner being half-cleared to Graeme Shinnie, who lashed his shot wide from 15 yards.
The visitors were just about managing to keep their opponents at arm's length, but their resistance was finally broken with a minute to go.
Wigan captain Tendayi Darikwa's cross from the right was a beauty, and former Seasiders defender Curtis Tilt powered home a header from close range to the delight of most inside the DW.
The win sees Wigan leapfrog their opponents into third-bottom spot.
And there could well be another managerial change in the offing, with the Blackpool fans loudly chanting 'You're getting sacked in the morning' in the direction of under-fire boss Michael Appleton.
Wigan's interim boss Rob Kelly: "It was one big collective effort. It was difficult, when the opposition had a man sent off very early. We've not been on a great run, so confidence wasn't massively high, although I don't think we've ever lost track of what direction we're going in. We just tried to keep things as calm as we possibly could, made one or two tweaks at half-time, but nothing we wouldn't have done with Leam [Richardson] still here.
"I told the guys at half-time not to panic, we still had 45 or even 50 minutes to get the job done, and just to move the ball around a bit quicker. The Championship is a slog, the schedule is so hectic, and I did feel the longer it went, I did feel gaps would open up for us and we would get chances. We needed to try and play with a bit more width and get the ball into the box, and fortunately today that's what happened."
Blackpool's Michael Appleton: "It's been the story of a period of time now over the last couple of months. What could go wrong has gone wrong and it's made life difficult, there's no doubt about it.
"The sending-off has happened and the game changes. We gave ourselves a lifeline with a fantastic goal, but the red (card) just made it really difficult."
