Rovers’ inconsistency continued, as did their poor run at the DW Stadium, as Wigan Athletic earnt their first home victory of the season, courtesy of a catalogue of errors by a young Rovers side, in the rearranged fixture.
After Rovers returned to winning ways after dispatching newly-promoted Rotherham United, 3-0, at Ewood Park on Saturday, Jon Dahl Tomasson made one change from the weekend for this rearranged fixture against another of the new boys to the Sky Bet Championship. George Hirst came into the team to replace Sam Gallagher, whose minutes were being managed after recently returning from injury. Harry Pickering and Scott Wharton were notching up milestones tonight, as the former racked up his 200th career start, whilst the latter hit 150 career appearances.
With Sky Sports hovering over the fixture, the anticipation built in the air as records were around to be broken, with Wigan having not won at home all season, versus Rovers who hadn’t won away at the DW Stadium since New Years’ Day 2007. With the added storyline of the goal in-front of the away end being ‘two inches higher’ than the other, it was Tyler Morton who got the ball rolling after referee Josh Smith’s whistle, as Rovers looked to win back-to-back games.
After 12 minutes, both sides started the game rockily, with neither team able to gain a proper foothold in the derby during the opening stages.
Wigan were awarded a wide free-kick in the 13th minute which saw Max Power deliver a near-post cross to which Tom Naylor connected via a diving header, but the ball nestled into the side-netting.
In the 16th minute, Everton loanee Nathan Broadhead showed his directness as he cut inside from the right-hand side and tried to curl in an effort with his weaker left-foot, but he managed to force a save from Rovers’ goalie, Thomas Kaminski, as Wigan were awarded a corner. From the corner, the Latics played it short and despite looking to try and open up an angle for a cross, the ball fizzled out of play.
The hosts stayed on top in the 18th minute as Tom Naylor wound up a long-range effort which curled harmlessly past the left-hand upright, as Rovers remained under the cosh.
In the 24th minute, Rovers crafted a inch of a chance following an error at the back by Wigan which allowed Ben Brereton Díaz to try and notch his 8th of the season, but his and Rovers’ first attempt of the night was dragged across the face of goal and behind for a goal-kick.
The first booking of the evening fell the way of the hosts as Tom Naylor was cautioned for a scuffle with Ryan Hedges.
In the 34th minute, Will Keane dispossessed Scott Wharton after the centre-back’s sloppy play saw him give the ball away to the former Manchester United youth player. The attacker moved in on goal before testing Kaminski with an effort that the Belgian did well to palm away.
As the break got closer, the fourth official and Josh Smith both concluded that one minute of time would be added onto the end of the first period, which soon ended after a lack of bite from either side.
Leam Richardson would have been the happier of the two bosses at the break as his side had done all of the attacking throughout the first period and troubled Rovers’ backline extensively with their speed and aerial threat. The current Latics boss, who is a former Rover, would have wanted his side to continue their first-half performance, but urged them to increase the quality of their final ball.
Jon Dahl Tomasson would have had a lot of thinking to do at the break, as his side had failed to muster an attempt on target for the second successive away first-half. The Dane would have been forgiven for firing a rocket at his side during the break as they had failed to start well and had looked second best throughout the opening 45 minutes. The boss would have been calling for more concentration in possession of the ball as Rovers looked to take advantage of the host’s poor home record.
Just before the second period started, Rovers made a double change, introducing Tyrhys Dolan and Callum Brittain for Ryan Hedges and Sammie Szmodics.
Wigan restarted the game at the start of the second-half looking to try and fix their home record, by securing their first win and extending Rovers’ wretched winless run at the DW Stadium to 13 games.
After a subdued first 7 minutes of the second period, Rovers made their third change of the game as Sam Gallagher came on for George Hirst.
In the 55th minute, a beautiful defence-splitting pass from Harry Pickering picked out Ben Brereton Díaz whose cut-back failed to find Tyrhys Dolan as it was cut out by the home defenders.
Despite Rovers’ better start to the second-half, Wigan managed to take the lead in the 62nd minute after the hosts took advantage of their press to dispossess Tyler Morton, who dallied on the ball. The on-loan Liverpool midfielder was forced to turn towards his own goal before he was dispossessed by Will Keane whose eventual chip was palmed by Thomas Kaminski into the path of Nathan Broadhead, who tapped the ball home into the empty net, to put the Latics 1-0 ahead.
In the 66th minute, the goalscorer, Nathan Broadhead was replaced by Thelo Aasgaard, who netted the winner against Rovers in the FA Cup, last season.
Rovers also replied with a change of their own, as Adam Wharton replaced Daniel Ayala, as Rovers reverted to a four-back formation.
Soon after the changes, Aasgaard wasted no time in threatening Rovers’ backline as he connected with Tendayi Darikwa’s cross, but the Norwegian’s header flew over the bar.
Minute 69 saw Darikwa try an attempt of his own, as the former Burnley full-back cut inside and tried his luck, but his attempt was dragged wide of the far-post.
Moments later, down the other end, Callum Brittain’s hopeful cross flew over the heads of everyone in the box before falling to Ben Brereton Díaz, who chested the ball down and tried to find the inside of the near-post, but his effort lacked the curl to test Ben Amos.
James McClean was booked in the 78th minute in retaliation to a tackle by Lewis Travis, which the Northern Irishman thought was a missed foul by referee Josh Smith. From the free-kick, Tyler Morton delivered a deliciously inviting ball into the box that nearly saw a few red shirts get on the end, but ultimately, a Wigan goal-kick was awarded after a scramble led to nowhere.
Wigan’s second and third changes of the game saw Josh Magennis and Ashley Fletcher replace Charlie Wyke and Will Keane, whilst Bradley Dack was introduced for Rovers in the 82nd minute, in-place of Lewis Travis.
Ben Brereton Díaz was booked in the 86th minute for remonstrating against the referee, after the Chilean believed Rovers should have had a succession of fouls.
By the 90th minute, Rovers pushed for an equaliser and were offered four added minutes to try and salvage their first draw of the season as the fourth official propped up four on the board.
The 93rd minute saw Joe Bennett replace James McClean for the final few moments of the tie.
Despite a late rally, Rovers failed to muster anything from this game, which stretched their winless run away at Wigan to 13 games, as Jon Dahl Tomasson and his side were forced to deal with a seventh defeat of the season.
A slow start paved the way for a second successive poor display and defeat on the road, ahead of the Sky Sports cameras. Rovers lacked any real idea, composure and attacking threat to their play today, failing to put any pressure on a frail Wigan side, who were delighted to pick up their first home victory of the campaign, at Rovers’ extent. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side, although still find themselves in a healthy league position, need to start to work up some consistency if they want to avoid the season from petering out.
Speaking of the league table, Rovers are still 7th in the table, and are stuck on 21 points after seven wins and seven defeats, but their goal-difference has now dropped down to a neutral zero after 14 games of the season.
Rovers’ next game sees them on the road again, as they travel to Middlesbrough, who are still manager-less as of writing. That clash will kick-off at 3pm on Saturday 15th October. Following that trip to the North-East, Rovers face another North-East side, yet this time, in East Lancashire, as Jon Dahl Tomasson welcomes his predecessor Tony Mowbray and his Sunderland side to Ewood Park on Tuesday 18th October in an 8pm clash that will be available on Sky Sports. Four days later, Rovers are in action at home again, this time against Birmingham City, as John Eustace’s side make the trip to Ewood Park on Saturday 22nd October for the 3pm start.
