Wigan Athletic vs Swansea City. Sky Bet Championship.
DW StadiumAttendance8,964.
Tuesday 2 October 2018 23:17, UK
Wigan and Swansea had to be content with a point apiece from a Sky Bet Championship stalemate at the DW Stadium.
Most of the excitement occurred in the second period, with Wigan substitute Will Grigg thwarted by a stunning save from Swans goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt as he raced clean through.
Swansea too could have won it, with Christian Walton pulling some fine saves while Oli McBurnie was denied a tap-in right at the death by the foot of Chey Dunkley.
Wigan had to be on guard early on with Swansea pressing through Connor Roberts, but Cedric Kipre was in the right place at the right time to intercept a teasing cross aimed at McBurnie.
The Scottish striker was making his presence felt, and he looked odds-on to open the scoring only for Reece James to come over and make a timely block.
Barrie McKay picked up the rebound but Walton was able to help it behind for a corner.
Wigan threatened for the first time as Josh Windass' deep cross almost found its way to Joe Garner, with Kipre firing well over from the corner.
Walton was called into action again to deny Matty Grimes from distance and then Roberts from close range as the visitors enjoyed a decent spell.
Wigan remained a threat on the counter and Michael Jacobs fired wide after good work down the right from Nick Powell, who was captaining the side in the absence of Sam Morsy.
Kipre was having a commanding game at the back for the hosts and he produced another stunning block to prevent Jay Fulton - who spent time on loan at Wigan last term - getting a shot on goal.
Substitute Leroy Fer came close for Swansea with a shot that missed by a couple of feet, before the Swans almost pressed the self-destruct button.
An awful back-pass allowed Wigan substitute Grigg clean through on goal, but Nordfeldt saved his team-mate's blushes with a fantastic save with an outstretched boot.
Wigan also threw on Callum McManaman, for Powell, and lovely feet from the new man led to a teasing cross that was only just too high for Grigg.
Swansea were by no means settling for a point and Walton was called on again to find a brilliant save to thwart Bersant Celina.
Wigan then survived a scramble in the last minute as Dunkley got a vital toe on the ball to prevent McBurnie tapping home at the far post.
Paul Cook: "For a neutral, I don't you'll see many better 0-0s, full of attacking play. Both goalkeepers had to be at their best to keep it scoreless, and I think both sides will be content with a point.The way they played was no surprise to us, no surprise at all.
"They're a newly-relegated Premier League team with some good players and a good management staff. We'd had them watched and we knew exactly how good they could be, with their rotation. On the flip side, we're newly-promoted from League One, and we're still on a big learning curve in this division.
"Our back four, back five, is probably as young as you'll get at this level, but they're doing a good job. We had to defend well at times but so did they, and I think both sides cancelled each other out."
Graham Potter: "It's a bit hard to digest that so soon after the end, it felt like a bit of bedlam at times. I thought we played well in patches, created some good chances, and I thought the spirit was fantastic. They had some big moments as well, and overall you'll take any point at this level, a clean sheet and plenty to build on."
"We've got a really solid group where everyone is ready to come in and help the team. With it being a three-game week, we thought it would be the ideal time to use Kris' assets. We knew Wigan were a high-tempo pressing team and would be defending from their front six in our faces. We thought Kris could help us with that, it was a great opportunity to rest Erwin, and we're just lucky we have two fine goalkeepers."
