Man of the Match Yanic Wildschut. Photograph courtesy of Wigan Athletic
Lone striker Yanic Wildschut produced a Man of the Match performance to give Wigan Athletic an unlikely win at fourth placed Huddersfield Town.
Latics defended for long periods of the game and rode their luck but came away with their first three points under new manager Warren Joyce.
Wildschut created the first and scored the second in a virtuoso display of strength and power.
The Terriers had levelled through Aaron Mooy after Reece Burke’s close range finish had given Wigan the lead, but Wildschut sealed the points when he broke from his own half, rounded keeper Danny Ward and finished with aplomb.
Huddersfield dominated possession and had plenty of opportunities but failed to be clinical in front of goal.
Latics remain in the bottom three but move on to level points with Wolves in 18th place. The Terriers drop to sixth in the table.
Warren Joyce started with a defensive line-up and made three changes from the side which drew at Barnsley with Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nathan Byrne and Luke Garbutt coming in for Adam Bogdan, Craig Morgan and Nick Powell.
Huddersfield attacked Wigan from the kick off and they nearly went ahead on nine minutes when Elias Kachunga headed just over from Rajiv Van La Parra’s cross.
The Terriers went close two minutes later when Jon Stankovic headed over Aaron Mooy’s free-kick from the right hand side, and they had an Elias Kachunga effort ruled out for offside on 24 minutes.
Latics had to endure wave after wave of the home team’s attacks but Wildschut was looking lively on the break and he nearly put Latics in front with a powerful drive into the area but his final shot went narrowly wide of the top corner.
Huddersfield continued their dominance with Kasey Palmer, Tommy Smith and Sean Scannell all going close.
But against the run of play Latics went ahead just before the interval when Wildschut powered his way down the right hand side before crossing to the unlikely goal scorer Reece Burke who had somehow kept pace with Wildschut. The home crowd was stunned into silence.
Latics nearly added to their lead before half time when Wildschut once again ran at the Terriers defence but this time his final effort was deflected wide.
Latics had defended deep and in numbers for most of the first half and they started the second in similar fashion and it proved a risky strategy as the home team levelled four minutes in through Aaron Mooy from close range after good work by Nahki Wells down the left.
Huddersfield went in search of a second and Mooy had two efforts from range go close soon afterwards.
Despite the Terriers controlling most of the possession Latics always looked dangerous on the break through the outstanding Wildschut.
On the hour mark he restored Latics’ lead with a superb break from his own half, first powering past two defenders then rounding Ward and finishing for his first goal of the season.
Latics nearly increased their lead a minute later when the flying Dutchman once again drove at the Terriers defence but this time his final attempt was just wide of the target.
Wigan were lucky to survive a shout for a penalty when Luke Garbutt brought down Wells in the area but referee Tony Harrington waved away the hosts appeals.
Huddersfield continued to search for an equaliser but a combination of some very good defending by Shaun MacDonald, Stephen Warnock, Jake Buxton and Jussi Jaaskelainen plus a little luck enabled Latics to survive the onslaught and secure their first victory under Warren Joyce.
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