REPORT: Mansfield Town 0 Wigan Athletic 2 - Thelo at the double sees Tics remain on Wembley trail
Two goals from talisman Thelo Aasgaard in the opening nine minutes of the second half saw Wigan Athletic advance to round four of the FA Cup – and a home tie against Premier League Fulham – thanks to a 2-0 victory at fellow League One outfit Mansfield Town.
Mansfield played the better football in the first half, but Sam Tickle was equal to both of the routine efforts that came his way.
At the other end, Jonny Smith sent a shot against the outside of the post but the visitors didn't really assert any kind of dominance on proceedings.
All that changed within three minutes of the restart, when Smith's right-wing cross was headed home by Aasgaard into the roof of the net.
Mansfield had a huge shout for a penalty for handball against Jason Kerr as he looked to block a shot, but referee Alex Chilowicz allowed play to continue.
And salt was rubbed into Mansfield wounds when Latics doubled their lead on 54 minutes.
It was Kerr who played the ball into Aasgaard, who advanced to the edge of the box before curling a brilliant left-foot shot beyond the fingertips of Christy Pym.
The second goal knocked all of the stuffing out of Mansfield, who were unable to mount much in the way of a response as Latics ran the clock down.
George Maris sent a shot floating just past the far post, but Tickle was otherwise relatively untroubled in the Latics goal.