Steven Sessegnon scored his first goal for Latics Photo courtesy of Wigan Athletic

• This FA Cup victory for Wigan Athletic was a replica of the league fixture at St James Park as the visitors absorbed pressure and hit Exeter on the counter-attack winning 2-0.
• Latics rode their luck as Exeter threatened in the first half with former Latic Yanic Wildschut going close on several occasions.
• In the 58th minute and against the run of play Latics went ahead as Jordan Jones shot was only partially saved by Viljami Sinisalo and Thelo Aasgaard followed up.
• The visitors progression to the second round was confirmed when Steven Sessegnon curled a superb strike into the top corner from 25 yards on 87 minutes.
• Latics will be ball number 5 in the second round draw which takes place on Sunday.

Shaun Maloney made four changes from the defeat against Charlton Athletic with Stephen Humphrys, Martial Godo, Sessegnon and Scott Smith coming into the starting line-up.

Wildschut threatened in the first five minutes and Charlie Hughes had to concede an early corner.

On nine minutes Wildschut’s right footed strike from a tight angle was pushed away for a corner by Sam Tickle.

Harry Kite and Vincent Harper had shots blocked before Alex Hartridge headed wide from a corner as the hosts pressed forward.

Sean Clare had to be withdrawn due to an injury on 19 minutes and replaced by Omar Rekik.

On 26 minutes Latics had their first serious attack and Scott Smith’s strike from outside the box was superbly tipped over the crossbar by Sinsalo.

But the hosts were still enjoying plenty of possession as Wildschut continued to be their most dangerous forward.

Harper had a great chance to break the deadlock on 38 minutes but he headed wide from the centre of the goal.

Wildschut then had a shot straight at Tickle on 40 minutes as Latics held firm.

In first half added time Godo broke away but was unceremoniously brought down by Harry Kite. It could have been a straight red card, but Godo was still 40 yards from the Exeter goal and Kite only received a yellow card from referee Craig Hicks.

Exeter continued their dominance at the start of the second half and they should’ve gone ahead when Wildschut cut the ball back to James Scott but he ballooned his effort from the centre of the box over the crossbar on 52 minutes.

It was to prove a costly miss as on 58 minutes as Aasgaard broke the deadlock. Jones strike was pushed away by Sinisalo and the Norwegian U21 international followed up to give Latics the lead.

Latics held their shape and continued to defend until in the 87th minute Sessegnon curled a superb strike from 25 yards into the top corner to seal their progression into the second round of the FA Cup.

Overview

This was not an easy watch for Latics’ fans as they had to endure plenty of Exeter pressure with Wildschut posing a big threat.

Although they defended very well, they also rode their luck as the Grecians wasted some very good opportunities.

Latics were always a threat on the break with Humphrys, Jones, Godo and Aasgaard dangerous and this proved to be the difference between the two teams.

As in the league fixture, the visitors hit the hosts on the counter this time through Aasgaard before Sessegnon scored a fantastic goal to seal progression to the next round.

Maloney once again got his tactics just about right against Exeter, but against another team with more prolific finishers they would probably have lost.

It was important that Maloney’s men quickly got back to winning ways but they cannot afford to take such risks against most other teams as they will be seriously punished.

Post match comments

Speaking afterwards, Maloney said: 

“It was a very good team performance,

“In the second half, we changed things tactically. I didn’t feel like there were massive issues in the game, I just wanted to get our attacking players higher up.

“We changed our system. The first half was very even with not much in it, although I didn’t feel like we were under a massive threat.

“I felt we were dangerous on the counter attack but I wanted more of the ball in the second half. We saw the game out and I was really happy. In the end, it was a really good performance. 

“We take it game by game, and we’ve got a history in the cup. I spoke to the players before the game, and there have been some amazing moments in recent history. Hopefully it’s our turn to create some memories.”

Over 350 Tics made the 400-mile round trip for the second time in two weeks, and Maloney was pleased to send the supporters home happy. 

“I’m so glad we gave the fans another win here. This one meant a lot to everyone, myself included.”

Image courtesy of Wigan Athletic