After losing to Luton at home twice in the span of four days, Wigan is still at the bottom of the Championship. The Hatters easily won 2-0.
Given that this was the fourth meeting of the campaign and the third encounter in 2023, the two sides must be tired of seeing one another. Luton got out to the faster start and scored after just 11 minutes, advancing to the FA Cup fourth round after winning on this field in midweek.
Wigan only had themselves to blame since Miguel Azeez and Steven Caulker, two of their three January acquisitions, got caught up in a defensive mix-up. Harry Cornick was able to quickly move in and gain control as a result, and after fending off an attempted foul, he reached the Wigan goal with the help of a huge deflection that fooled goalkeeper Ben Amos.
Even though the players did not appear to be entirely at ease doing so, Wigan continued to attempt to play it out from the back at every opportunity. Elijah Adebayo's powerful shot beat both the far post and the diving Amos as Luton threatened once more down the left channel.
Midway through the first quarter, Wigan believed they had equalized when Ashley Fletcher headed Charlie Hughes' precise cross into the far right corner of Ethan Horvath's goal.
Unfortunately for the home team, a very tenuous offside call resulted in the flag being raised on the opposite side. A lunging defender diverted the ball behind for a corner just as Fletcher was about to connect with a drilled cross from Max Power.
Wigan sorely needed to score the next goal, but nine minutes after the interval, the visitors increased their advantage. Again, Wigan should not have given up that goal. Elijah Adebayo easily beat Amos after leaving Curtis Tilt for dead after receiving a return pass from Cornick.
When Hughes and Azeez, two of Wigan's top players, were substituted in favor of Thelo Aasgaard and Callum Lang, the thunderous booing from the home crowd made it clear how frustrated they were inside the stadium.
Christ Tiehi, a midfielder who joined Wigan on loan from Slovan Liberec, narrowly missed the target with a shot as Wigan attempted to rally. The visitors appeared just as likely to score another goal, if not more so, as time passed and it became clear that the Wigan players were losing confidence.
Wigan appears to need every single one of the 16 days between now and their next match to regroup, while the Hatters are currently eliminated from the play-off spots on goal differential alone.
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