Wigan took full advantage of their relegation six-pointer against Reading hammering the Royals 3-0 and moving out of the drop zone, for now, just ahead of Aston Villa. Arouna Koné scored a brace and Maynor Figueroa added a third for Wigan.
Reading vs. Wigan Athletic: Final score 0-3, Wigan move out of the drop zone for now
A brace from Arouna Koné allowed Wigan to roll past Reading and move out of the drop zone on goal differential over Aston Villa.
With both sides needing full points the game opened up quickly and provided some fairly entertaining end-to-end action.
Wigan got the game’s first good chance in the 4th minute when Franco Di Santo got in behind the Reading defense and put a shot in on goal from close range. Reading goalkeeper Adam Frederici was up to the task, making an excellent save to deny the Argentine.
Reading tested Wigan's defense in the 14th minute after the initial clearance on a corner was headed down by Di Santo in front of Jimmy Kebe on the right side of the Wigan box. Kebe unleashed a powerful shot from a tough angle but it went just wide into the side-netting. The Wigan fans on the other end of the stadium roared momentarily as the ball looked in.
Things slowed down as the match moved towards halftime but it was Wigan would find a goal and take the lead going into the break. In the 43rd minute Gary Caldwell got a really poor header on a corner kick that bounced off the ground and right to Maynor Figueroa at the near post. Figueroa headed the ball on target and it appeared to be chested in by Arouna Koné. Either way, it counted and Wigan led 1-0.
Less than three minutes later Jean Beausejour sent a beautiful cross field pass to Koné who moved waited patiently for Federici to move off his line before chipping the ball over the keeper to give Wigan a sudden 2-0 lead.
Wigan stayed hot out as the second half kicked off extended their lead to 3-0 in the 49th minute. This time there was no doubt that Figueroa put the ball in the back of the net as he nicely finished a pass from Di Santo.
Reading never really threatened after that and Wigan cruised to a big win.
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