Wigan Vs. Aston Villa: Visiting Villa Hold Off Late Rally By Wigan For 2-1 Win

it wasn't pretty and some would argue it was undeserved, but Aston Villa managed to hold off Wigan Athletic at DW Stadium for a 2-1 victory, only their second away win of the campaign. Unable to establish any semblance of possession in the first half, Villa has to be pleased to go into half still even and a bright start to the second half was enough to give them a lead before some silly play from Villa and tough defending down the stretch delivered them three points.

For all their possession and calm knocking the ball around in the first half, Wigan had very little to show for it because they couldn't push the ball forward. Despite having the bulk of possession, Wigan had most of it in the middle of the park and their only three shots on target in the first 45 minutes didn't challenge Brad Friedel much at all. It sent the match scoreless into halftime, when Villa found a spark.

To begin the second half, Villa was in control. They established the width that they sorely lacked in the first 45 stanza and were finally rewarded for their pressure five minutes after the restart. Darren Bent tracked well into his own half and played the ball to Ashley Young who raced more than half the field before unleashing a shot that forced a solid save from Ali Al-Habsi. The save pushed the ball away for a corner kick, which Villa played near post and had a deflected header looking to threaten goal before being blocked out for a second corner kick. The second time around, Villa got their goal as Carlos Cuellar climbed high to power a header on goal that forced a tremendous save by Al-Habsi. Unfortunately for the home save, the great save only made it about a yard off of the line where Gabby Agbonlahor was in position to head the ball just barely over the line for a 1-0 Villa dvantage.

Wigan responded with some good pressure after going down a goal, but Hendry Thomas put the home side in even more of a hole. After Stewart Downing played Young in behind the defense, Wigan retreated and Thomas had done well to usher Young to the edge of the box and the end line when he went in on a rash and frankly, silly, challenge. While Young looked to no longer be threatening the Wigan goal, the referee rightfully awarded a penalty that Young took well for a 2-0 Villa lead.

Down two goals, Wigan provided all of the remaining threats. In fact, the home side got a deflection off of James Collinson a long shot by James McCarthy to wrong-foot Friedel and pull the Latics to within a goal. The final 15 minutes were played almost exclusively in the Villa side, but as had been the case for much of the match, Wigan couldn't find the necessary spark. Wigan's best chances went blocked and Friedel wasn't challenged nearly as much as he should have been so Villa walked away 2-1 winners.

With the three points, Villa move from 16th place to 13th in the table, even on points with 12th place Blackpool, who lost to Manchester United. Meanwhile, Wigan still finds themselves in drop trouble as they remain in the relegation zone, a point behind 17th place Birmingham despite having two matches in hand.