• Wigan Athletic halted their recent run of poor form with a 1-1 draw at Plymouth Argyle.
• In a first half of few chances Lorent Tolaj went closest for the hosts when he crashed a strike against the crossbar.
• In the second half Latics threatened when Christian Saydee rolled his man before forcing Conor Hazard into a save low down to his right. 
• Argyle controversially went ahead in the 70th minute. Will Aimson was alleged to have committed a foul from a corner, and Tolaj converted the penalty.
• Latics equalised on 82 minutes when Fraser Murray produced a powerful finish at the near post and the points were shared.
• Latics are now in 14th and Plymouth in 15th place in the League One table.

Ryan Lowe made five changes to Latics lineup from their defeat against Cardiff City last weekend. 

Steven Sessegnon and Luke Robinson replaced Morgan Fox and Joe Hungbo in the backline, while Jensen Weir and Ollie Cooper started in midfield in place of Ryan Trevitt and Callum Wright who was ineligible as a loanee from Plymouth. The final change saw Raphael Borges Rodrigues come in for Paul Mullin.

Latics started positively with a Matt Smith effort going just wide of Conor Hazard’s post.

Argyle responded and they went close twice through Tolaj, first crashing an effort against the woodwork and then firing just wide.

Later in the first half Tolaj saw a curling free-kick clear the crossbar in a first 45 of few chances.

0-0 at half time with neither team gaining the upper hand.

Latics threatened on 61 minutes when a Smith ball found Saydee inside the area, and the striker rolled his man before forcing Hazard into a save low down to his right. 

Plymouth controversially went ahead when they were awarded a penalty in the 70th minute. Will Aimson was alleged to have committed a foul from an Argyle corner, and Tolaj converted the spot-kick.

Latics responded well to the setback and were level on 82 minutes after some neat interplay. Raphael and Saydee linked up brilliantly to play in Murray, who produced powerful finish at the near post.

The visitors were now in the ascendancy and they pushed hard for the winner. Murray curled a free-kick wide of the post, while Weir saw a low drive pushed away by Hazard.

In a tense final few minutes both teams looked for a final cutting edge but the points had to be shared.

This was an important first point for Latics since the 13th September and they will hope to continue their improvement against Wycombe Wanderers next weekend.

Overview

Latics were desperate to stop the rot after three recent defeats and manager Ryan Lowe wanted his team to put in a good performance against one of his former clubs.

A draw was probably a fair result at Home Park but Latics can certainly feel aggrieved by the penalty decision by referee Ben Atkinson. 

Having watched the incident back several times it’s hard to see why the referee gave a spot kick. 

Both teams may feel frustrated by the decisions of Mr. Atkinson but he is by no means unique in is ineptitude.

The standard of refereeing in League One continues to frustrate and although most people don’t want VAR in League One something must be done sooner rather than later to address the problem.

Fraser Murray continues to be Latics’ most dangerous attacker with a clinical finish for his fifth goal of the season. His impact since joining Latics from Kilmarnock has been nothing less than impressive.

Lowe is likely to play his Academy players against Wolves U21s in the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday night, but his main priority will be home games against Wycombe and Port Vale. A six point haul could re-establish Latics in the top half of the table.

Post match comments 

Afterwards Ryan Lowe told the media,

“I thought the lads were excellent.”

“They stuck to the game plan both with and without the ball.

“We knew it was going to be tough coming here after they won away from home and scored four goals last weekend.

“We needed to stop the period where we hadn’t won a game, and I thought we were unfortunate not to go on and win the game.

“We had some good chances. There were a few decisions I wasn’t happy about, but I can’t do much about them.

“To go a goal behind again and show that fighting spirit to go again and get the equaliser for our fans was pleasing.

“That was for the fans – it was a tough week after the week of losing three games. 

“We had a fantastic week in training, and the lads performed to the levels that are expected of them. 

“Fair play to the lads who came in because we had a couple of injuries and a suspension. We were well worthy of a point, and on another day, it might have been three.”

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