Latics 4 Magpies 0

Both Wigan and Newcastle went into this game in a rich vein of form. The home team had beaten Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal in recent weeks and the Champions League chasing Magpies had won six on the bounce. It was Wigan who started the game in whirlwind fashion and set about devastating their high-flying opponents.

From the kick off Latics took a grip on proceedings dominating possession and denying the opposition any kind of foothold in the game. The two James’, McArthur and McCarthy controlled the centre of midfield and the wing backs Boyce and Beausejour  spent most of their time in the Newcastle half providing some telling crosses and excellent link up play.

Shaun Maloney was pulling the strings and prompting his team mates, with intricate short passes and expansive crossfield balls. His creativity has been a revelation since he broke into the team at Norwich. On 13 minutes it was Maloney who set up the first Wigan goal. He changed the direction of attack when his 30 yard pass found Boyce on the edge of the box, and the wing back crossed for Victor Moses to deftly flick his header past Tim Krul.

On 15 Minutes Wigan went further ahead. Maloney produced a sublime back heel to Moses who then fed Beausejour and when the Chilean’s cross was intercepted by Fabricio Coloccini, the attempted clearance fell to Moses who finished clinically from 8 yards.

It was soon 3-0 to Wigan. After a neat interchange between Beausejour and Di Santo, the Argentinian played in Maloney who took the ball towards goal before expertly finishing from an acute angle.

Newcastle were looking distinctly off colour in their orange kit. But the superlatives were all around for Wigan.

The three Wigan centre backs Alcaraz, Caldwell and Figueroa were outstanding and gave nothing away until Demba Ba had a brief half chance on 44 minutes.

Wigan had completely dominated their opponents and the Latics fans were in dreamland at the end of the first half when Franco Di Santo scored their fourth goal with a superbly flighted chip into the top corner from 25 yards out.

The first half performance must rate as one of the greatest ever by a Wigan Athletic team. Every Wigan player deserving great credit for their commitment and style.

The dominance continued in the early exchanges of the second period. Beausejour exchanged passes with Di Santo before Moses snap shot was well saved by Krul but then mayhem ensued in the Newcastle box as Di Santo scooped a cross towards Boyce and then Moses and McCarthy had shots blocked before the visitors scrambled the ball away.

Newcastle then managed a period of possession and in the process created three good chances for Papiss Cisse. Firstly he should have done better when he drove a shot straight at Al Habsi and then he hit the cross-bar with bending effort before finally hitting the post with a header.

But it was Wigan who finished the stronger and Conor Sammon had a great chance to make it five from a one-on-one with Krul and although the striker beat the keeper, Coloccini cleared the ball off the line.

The game came to a conclusion with Wigan expertly maintaining possession and Newcastle relieved that the score was only 4-0.

To score four goals against a Champions League chasing team and not concede a goal is a tremendous achievement. Wigan’s performance could only be described as awesome and Roberto Martinez and his back room staff should be congratulated on producing such a superb team effort.

With two games to play Wigan are nearly over the finishing line and Premier League survival must now surely be within their reach.