There are few teams who can pull off the late season relegation avoiding miracles like Roberto Martinez's Wigan side. They've still got plenty to do with two games left this season but when they absolutely needed to win today they did just that, downing West Bromwich Albion 3-2 thanks to a later winner from Callum McManaman.
West Bromwich Albion vs. Wigan Athletic: Final score 2-3, Wigan once again show a penchant for late season heroics
Wigan still have work to do but once again they managed a big late season victory to keep their hopes of avoiding relegation alive.
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Wigan remains in the bottom three but are now only two points behind Sunderland -- who play Monday at home against Stoke City -- for 17th and a potential safety.
West Brom's early dominance was rewarded in the 29th minute when Wigan defender Paul Scharner got way to far forward and lost possession leading to a lightning quick counter attack from West Brom. Romelu Lukaku's excellent long ball to Markus Rosenberg racing down the right wing started the counter and Shane Long finished it with a tap-in of Rosenberg's precise cross that beat both Joel Robles and two defenders.
Wigan looked mostly harmless as halftime approached but a moment of brilliance from Arouna Koné and Jean Beausejour pulled them even at 1-1. After the referee play advantage following Billy Jones' crunching tackle of Shaun Maloney, Beausejour got free on the left and curled a ball into the area that was headed powerfully past Ben Foster by Kone who'd slipped in behind Jonas Olsson
West Brom retook the lead five minutes into the second half when Gareth McAuley got free in the box and headed Graham Dorrans' corner into the upper right corner of the net, making it 2-1 for the home side.
The lead would once again be short lived.
Roberto Martinez reacted to the goal by bringing on James McArthur and it paid immediate dividends. In the 58th minute Shaun Maloney's cross towards the far post was driven past Foster by a diving header from McArthur who had somehow managed to appear at the post, much to the confusion and chagrin of the West Brom defense.
Maloney was back terrorizing West Brom on the left wing in the 80th minute dribbling to the end line before centering to Callum McManaman. The striker took advantage of more poor marking by the Baggies defenders and directed the ball past Foster and put Wigan ahead for good at 3-2.
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