REPORT: Preston North End 2 Wigan Athletic 1

The opening quarter of the game was fast and frenetic, as expected on derby day with the stakes so high.

Tom Cannon had the first real sight of goal, but his shot was always wide enough to not cause Ben Amos too much concern.

Latics were playing some good stuff, though, and they took the lead with 27 minutes on the clock.

Tiehi hunted the error as North End tried to play it out from the back, and exchanged a nice one-two with Ashley Fletcher.

From a tight angle, he fired towards the far post, with Preston defender Greg Cunningham succeeding only in applying the final touch as he tried to hook it away.

Callum Lang fired just wide from 20 yards as Latics looked for a second goal before the interval.

The sound of North End being booed off at half-time would have been music to the ears of Wigan players, management and supporters alike.

But the game was turned on its head inside the space of four minutes shortly after the interval.

First, after a mix-up at the back, Amos came off his line but saw the ball toed past him by Daniel Johnson, with both players colliding.

Referee Mr Bramall pointed straight to the spot, and Johnson scored his customary goal against Latics from 12 yards.

Then, as Latics were still regrouping, Cannon raced through before sliding the ball past Amos and in off the far post on 57 minutes.

It was all Preston at this point, with Latics desperately trying to stem the bleeding, before they could even think about pushing for an equaliser.

Tom Pearce and Danel Sinani took over from skipper Tendayi Darikwa and top scorer Will Keane, and the on-loan Norwich forward was quickly into the game.

After seeing a shot from 25 yards deflect just wide, he tried his luck again from even further out, only for Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman to pull off an incredible save with his right hand.

North End had substitute Robbie Brady red-carded in the dying seconds for a late challenge on Jack Whatmough.

But Latics couldn’t make the extra man count despite more than 10 minutes of stoppage-time.