Wigan Athletic vs Burnley. Sky Bet Championship.
DW StadiumAttendance14,506.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Wigan Athletic and Burnley at the DW Stadium as Jay Rodriguez, two from Josh Brownhill, Nathan Tella and Samuel Bastien steered the Clarets to victory.
Saturday 27 August 2022 18:38, UK
Burnley underlined their Sky Bet Championship credentials with a thumping 5-1 victory at north west neighbours Wigan.
Josh Brownhill scored twice for the visitors, with Jay Rodriguez, Nathan Tella and Samuel Bastien also on target as Burnley claimed their second win of the season.
Wigan's reply came through a first-half penalty from Will Keane but it was an afternoon to forget for the home side.
The Clarets started like a house on fire and, with only six minutes gone, Vitinho flashed in a low cross from the left-hand side, which only just evaded the arriving Johann Berg Gudmundsson.
Wigan were struggling to keep hold of possession and the opening goal duly arrived after 17 minutes. Again, the home side could not deal with a Vitinho cross and this time Jay Rodriguez slammed home from close range.
It was midway through the first half before Wigan found their feet, with Keane seeing a powerful shot from the edge of the box well blocked.
The ball fell to team-mate Max Power, whose effort flashed just wide of the near post.
Burnley made the hosts pay by doubling their advantage within 60 seconds. The Wigan defence failed to deal with another cross, with Brownhill lashing the ball into the roof of the net, to the delight of the sell-out away contingent behind the goal.
It looked a daunting test for Wigan at this point but they dragged themselves back into it just before half-time.
Callum Lang raced on to a long ball forward and was caught by Burnley goalkeeper Arijenet Muric after lobbing the ball goalwards.
Referee James Bell intelligently allowed play to continue, although the ball bounced agonisingly up over the bar from a Wigan point of view. But the official then pointed to the spot and Keane converted the penalty.
There was still time for Keane to be fouled as he chased a similar long ball over the top, with the referee again waving play on. This time, Lang's shot was brilliantly saved and the visitors were happy to hear the half-time whistle.
Wigan created a gilt-edged opportunity to level the scores five minutes after the restart when - in similar fashion to both of Burnley's goals - the defence was unable to deal with a cross from out wide.
The ball fell invitingly for Keane, with time and space to pick his spot, but he fired high and wide from eight yards.
And they were made to pay a very high price when, within a minute, Burnley regained their two-goal lead.
There was a huge appeal for offside as Tella took delivery of a through ball down the left channel before slotting past Jones, although TV replays appeared to suggest the flag should have gone up.
Wigan suffered another blow when skipper Tendayi Darikwa had to be helped off with what looked to be a problem with his left shoulder.
Their attempts at a comeback were thwarted when substitute Josh Magennis saw his header brilliantly tipped round the post by Muric.
And salt was rubbed into Wigan wounds in the last five minutes when Brownhill added his second and Bastien scored on the counter.
Wigan's Leam Richardson: "Firstly congratulations to Burnley for the result and the victory. If you want to dissect the game, which we all like to do, we're obviously disappointed with the scoreline. We'll collectively take it on the chin and I'll take responsibility for the last two goals.
"You have a choice at 3-1 down with 10 minutes left of keeping it at 3-1 or trying to force a positive result, which leaves you wide open to exactly that. We probably shaded the first half if I'm being truthful, albeit we weren't happy with the way we started. We then came out strongly for the second half and created a big chance, which we didn't take. And to then concede the third goal straight away - and an offside goal at that, a simple decision - is disappointing. I don't want to take anything away from the opposition because they beat us well."
Burnley's Vincent Kompany: "There was a team out there who fought for every ball. Ten difficult minutes in the first half, we battled through it. And in the second half, we did everything we needed to do in the future against teams who are chasing the game. We had threat in behind, patience with the ball, and when we had the opportunity we broke the lines and attacked in numbers.
"It was a good lesson, a really good lesson. We saw every side of the game that we can be facing in the Championship, with different qualities. When you have a team with so many new players, every step of the way is filled with lessons. Sometimes you get away with it, you win and learn and go another day, and last time we didn't get away with it. But we didn't have much to get away with. We improved and I just hope now it will gel a little bit to be ready for the next challenges."
