Wigan Athletic suffered a second defeat in three days at the hands of high flying, newly promoted Mansfield Town at The Brick Community Stadium in the Sky bet League One.
The home side provided the opening opportunity of the night as midfielder Thelo Aasgaard deliciously plucked the ball from the air, turned his man, and played an inviting ball into the path of winger Dion Rankin whose effort smashed the legs of ‘Stags’ stopper Christy Pym.
A mix up with a misplaced pass from Baba Adeeko allowed Mansfield to take full advantage of the earlier let off. Will Evans got on the end of the wayward pass, looked up and with an eagle eye buried the ball from distance past a hapless Sam Tickle to open the scoring.
In the dying embers of the first half the ‘Latics’ were awarded a free kick. Aasgaard went for power and his shot was spilled by Pym. Striker Joe Hugill rushed for a tap in, into an empty net, but it appeared the Manchester United loanee was tugged back. The stadium’s decibels notched up as the incident was unsighted by referee Daniel Middleton causing uproar.
Latics boss Shaun Maloney opted for change in the second half making four substitutions. He got the desired effect almost immediately. Debutant Tyrese Francois picked out Aasgaard, who dropped shoulder and let fly, his strike rattled the crossbar and nestled into the net, unstoppable.
Momentum was now with Wigan as they went in search of a winner. Instead Mansfield were awarded a free kick wide on the left. Aaron Lewis’s delivery was headed down by Frazer Blake-Tracy, where it met the right foot of a galloping Keanu Baccus. Tickle had no chance as the ball rifled into the bottom corner, rippling the net.
As Latics pushed for a leveller, Michael Olakigbe and Jonny Smith both had chances late on but neither could find the target.
The loss means that Wigan fall to 18th in League One, just three points above the drop zone. Nigel Clough’s side remain in fourth, five points off league leaders Birmingham City.
Wigan
Sam Tickle; Will Aimson, Steven Sessegnon, Don Rankine, Joe Hugill, Thelo Aasgaard, Jason Kerr (Capt.), Baba Adeeko, James Carragher, Silko Thomas, Tyrese Francois.
Mansfield
Christy Pym; Baily Cargill, Lucas Akins, Aaron Lewis, Jordan Bowery, Will Evans, Keanu Baccus, Ben Waine, Frazer Blake-Tracy, Deji Oshilaja, Louis Reid (Capt.)
