Wigan Athletic vs Norwich City. Sky Bet Championship.
DW StadiumAttendance11,603.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Wigan Athletic and Norwich City at the DW Stadium as Shaun Maloney stayed unbeaten as Latics manager with a point on Saturday.
Saturday 18 February 2023 19:18, UK
Wigan dropped back to the foot of the Sky Bet Championship despite continuing their unbeaten record under Shaun Maloney with a goalless draw against play-off chasing Norwich.
Having picked up five points from their opening three matches under the watchful eye of Maloney, Wigan started the match full of confidence and flew into their opponents.
They could have been three goals up inside the opening quarter of an hour.
First, Callum Lang got himself free through the right channel.
As Angus Gunn narrowed the angle, Lang tried to smash it through him and the goalkeeper got a bit lucky as the ball rebounded off him to relative safety.
Gunn was required again when Will Keane this time found himself clean through, the City stopper producing a fantastic save to deny Wigan's top scorer.
James McClean had Wigan's third chance but he could only drive the ball into the side-netting after good build-up play.
Norwich's first real sight at goal saw Josh Sargent fire wide of Ben Amos' far post.
But Wigan suffered a huge blow when Jack Whatmough - last season's player of the year - limped off the field, just days after signing a new long-term contract.
Former England defender Steven Caulker came on in his place but Wigan didn't let the change affect their rhythm.
Gunn made another fine save to deny Lang from distance, with Keane unable to get to the rebound.
The ball was at a difficult height, and Keane slipped as he tried to connect, but it was another decent chance the home side were unable to convert.
Fantastic chasing from Lang around the Norwich backline forced the error but Wigan couldn't get it to the unmarked Ashley Fletcher in time for a shot.
The half ended with Gunn again coming to Norwich's rescue after Lang shot into the ground and the ball looped towards the top corner before being tipped over.
Norwich would have been pleased to hear the half-time whistle and they were the first to threaten in the second period.
Grant Hanley got his head to Gabriel Sara's right-wing corner and the ball flew just past Amos' right-hand post.
The remainder of the contest gradually fizzled out as Wigan were unable to create the same volume of chances and Norwich - well below par - seemingly content to go home with a point.
A late Sara free-kick caused a bit of panic in the Wigan defence - which has conceded only one goal since Maloney took charge.
But the ball sailed through the box without a touch and the home side breathed a collective sigh of relief.
However, news of wins elsewhere for Huddersfield and Blackpool will have dampened Wigan's positivity somewhat.
Wigan's Shaun Maloney:
"Although we had to defend more in the second half, we didn't give up many opportunities. In the first half, we were very good and the only disappointing thing was not going in two or three goals up. They were great opportunities as well, I really did think we did enough to win that game in the first half. We showed another side of ourselves in the second half when we had to defend a bit more. So it's mixed feelings looking back.
"I was really, really pleased with the players, they've been excellent since I came in. You could see in the last 10 minutes the team was getting very tired, we were dropping deeper and deeper. But our goalkeeper didn't have a lot to do and that's credit to the defence and the two lads in midfield who worked incredibly hard. The only difference between a good performance and a very good performance was in that final third. We have to be a bit more clinical with the chances we're creating. Overall it's been a positive start but that's all it is and we go again on Monday."
Norwich's David Wagner:
"Performance wise we were not good. As far as positives go, we got a clean sheet and how the players fought was positive. But in possession we made a lot of mistakes and we needed time to get into our rhythm. In the first half we were second best. The second half was better but we didn't create a single clear-cut chance. So at the end of the day it's a point, which we'll take, but we know we have to do much better. We didn't make enough right decisions, although the pitch didn't help us either.
"I was pleased with the way we fought, that they wanted to fight against the problems they had. But football-wise we were not able to find the pockets or the space to hurt them but this is how it goes sometimes. We will not spend too long thinking about this game because there is always another game just around the corner. We have to make sure we perform better than we did and we will have to focus hard to do that. We go home with one point, we would have preferred three, but we will be aiming to get three points next."
