HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 0, WIGAN ATHLETIC 2
Wigan Athletic took another giant step towards their Championship great escape with victory in a basement battle at Huddersfield Town.
Goals from Jamal Lowe and Anthony Pilkington propelled Latics to 17th place and three points clear of the relegation places.
Latics looked certainties for the drop before a run of only one loss in nine games pre-lockdown provided a lifeline.
The fear was the three-month break came at the wrong time as it might disrupt the momentum they had built.
Latics, two points clear of danger pre-match, picked up where they left off to greatly enhance their survival prospects.
Manager Paul Cook, while elated, sounded a note of caution.
He said: “It looks good tonight, but we are aware how quickly it can change.
“We are delighted. We have seen from results there are a lot of teams in our league which are fighting for survival, and we are one of them.
“It was an important win, but beforehand I would in truth settled for a point as Huddersfield were on a good run.”
Cook, who described it as “terrible” playing behind closed doors, added his side has put itself in a good position to stay up if they keep believing.
However, it was a costly loss for the Terriers as it left them only one point clear of the bottom three. They had started the day three clear.
Manager Danny Cowley had no excuses: “We were poor, it was a huge disappointment.
“We were short of the levels of recent weeks in preparation games and training. We under-performed collectively
“When we arrived, we had one win in nine games. We knew we would be in a relegation battle all season and it would go to the wire, and nothing has changed.”
The players ringed the centre circle before kick off and applauded the victims of Covid-19 and also took the knee as a mark of support for the Black Lives Matter campaign.
It took time for the match to ignite in an eerily quiet John Smith’s Stadium.
Wigan carved out the first clear-cut chance mid-half when Pilkington carved out an opening but shot straight to keeper Jonas Lossl.
And Pilkington then turned provider as Latics took a 26th minute lead when his cross was deflected before finding Lowe who fired home at the near post, his fourth goal of the season.
It took a stupendous save from Latics’ David Marshall to prevent Town equalising seven minutes later.
Christopher Schindler’s close-range header from Juninho Bacuna’s free kick looked a certain goal until Marshall’s heroic stop kept it out.
Pilkington doubled the lead five minutes into the second period following an exquisite piece of skill.
Receiving a pass from Lowe, Pilkington produced a majestic turn before seeing his shot deflect off Lewis O’Brien to leave Lossl wrong-footed for his third goal of the season.
It might have got better for Latics minutes later when Lowe burst clear and from the right of the box saw his shot flash the wrong side of the post.
Despite making all five changes between the 51st and 72nd minutes, Town were unable to find a way back into the match as they lacked creativity other than a fierce shot from Harry Toffolo which Marshall beat out.
And in stoppage time Lossl denied Wigan a third goal with a decent double save to deny Lee Evans and Michael Jacobs.