Sunderland made light of atrocious conditions at the DW Stadium to secure a 4-1 victory over Wigan that takes them into the top-half of the table.
O'Neill's men climb into the top-half on the back of big win
Sunderland made light of atrocious conditions at the DW Stadium to secure a 4-1 victory over Wigan that takes them into the top-half of the table.
Craig Gardner, James McClean, Stephane Sessegnon and David Vaughan did the damage for the Black Cats, who have been reborn under the guidance of Martin O'Neill.
Hugo Rodallega pulled one back for the Latics, but Roberto Martinez's side remain inside the Premier League drop zone after suffering an 11th defeat of the season.
The wind and rain in the North West did neither side any favours on Tuesday but it was the Black Cats, fresh from their heroics against Manchester City, who collected three welcome points.
Wigan started much the brighter and were unfortunate not to take the lead when David Jones and Ben Watson hit the woodwork within seconds of each other.
The Latics were left cursing their luck in first-half stoppage-time when Gardner lashed a 30-yard free-kick into the top corner, with his thunderbolt of a strike leaving Ali Al Habsi rooted to the spot.
Sunderland doubled their lead 10 minutes into the second half, with McClean nodding home after his first effort from point-blank range had been saved by Al Habsi.
Rodallega handed Wigan a lifeline on 62 minutes, drilling low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box with the aid of a deflection, but the visitors restored their two-goal cushion 11 minutes later.
Nicklas Bendtner was freed in space down the right and his centre was prodded into the back of the net by an unmarked Sessegnon.
Wigan were now all at sea and Vaughan crashed a fourth for Sunderland into the top corner 10 minutes from time.
Confident
The hosts looked confident in the early stages, with Rodallega twice going close while Steve Gohouri's shot beat Simon Mignolet before being cleared virtually off the goal-line by Gardner.
Sunderland, fresh from beating table-topping City on Sunday, threatened mostly on the break and Sessegnon was denied by a timely block from Antolin Alcaraz before Bendtner just failed to get enough on a lovely cross from McClean.
Wigan still looked the more likely scorers, though, and in the 31st minute they were left cursing their luck after hitting the post twice in a matter of seconds.
First, a nice move down the left ended with Jones racing into the penalty area and firing against the far post.
The rebound fell to Ronnie Stam who found Watson 15 yards out, only for his shot on the turn to bounce out off the inside of the near post.
The hosts were then forced into a substitution after the lively Albert Crusat appeared to sustain a bang on the hip in a collision with Vaughan and was replaced by Victor Moses.
The left channel was certainly Wigan's best avenue and, with the rain swirling around the ground, Mignolet produced a smart double stop to deny Jones and Maynor Figueroa.
The wind then played a major role as, having been on the back foot nearly all half and with injury time almost up, Sunderland took the lead.
Referee Mike Dean ruled Bendtner had been fouled by Watson 30 yards out despite howls of protest from the home fans and Gardner's free-kick changed direction in the wind and found the top corner with Al Habsi rooted to the spot.
Scrappy
As Dean walked off to a chorus of boos, Stam was shown a yellow card for taking his protests too far.
It was a scrappy start to the second half, which suited Sunderland just fine, and things got even better for the visitors in the 55th minute when they doubled their lead.
Vaughan picked out 22-year-old McClean, just onside in the middle of the box, and, although Al Habsi produced a good save from his first header, the goalkeeper could do nothing about the follow-up.
It was a first senior goal for McClean on his fifth appearance and made it nine different scorers for the nine goals netted under O'Neill.
Their two-goal advantage lasted only seven minutes, though, and for once it was Wigan who had the stroke of fortune.
Rodallega's turn on the edge of the box was sharp but his shot only beat Mignolet with the help of a big deflection off Matt Kilgallon.
Wigan's hopes of taking something were surely extinguished in the 73rd minute, though, when Bendtner got away from Figueroa down the right and crossed for Sessegnon to convert.
The game was really open now and Watson shot just the wrong side of the post after a clever corner routine before Al Habsi backpedalled to push a chip from McClean over the bar.
Sunderland were having one of those nights and with 10 minutes to go a Sessegnon shot hit Alcaraz and rebounded to Vaughan 20 yards out who blasted a strike of the highest quality into the top corner.
The victory made it 13 points from six games for O'Neill while it brought Wigan's run of good form to a shuddering halt as they remained stuck in the bottom three.
| Wigan Athletic |
Team Statistics |
Sunderland |
| 1 |
Goals |
4 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 12 |
Shots off Target |
2 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 9 |
Corners |
5 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
7 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 87.4 |
Passing Success |
79 |
| 12 |
Tackles |
15 |
| 91.7 |
Tackles Success |
86.7 |
| 63.4 |
Possession |
36.6 |
| 58.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
41.9 |
| 565 |
Total Passes |
310 |
| 26 |
Total Crosses |
21 |
| 126 |
Lost Balls |
122 |
| 35 |
Recoveries |
46 |
| 64 |
1st Half Poss. |
36 |
| 65.2 |
2nd Half Poss. |
34.8 |
|
