Ten-man Wigan Athletic return to winning ways against Port Vale as Maleace Asamoah strikes in gutsy victory
Wigan Athletic finally returned to winning ways with a gutsy 1-0 victory over Port Vale at the Brick Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t a plain-sailing afternoon for Ryan Lowe’s side, with them playing much of the game with 10 men after striker Dara Costelloe was sent off just before the break for a high foot.
However, Latics weren’t to be deterred, and Maleace Asamoah, who was sent on to fill the gap left by Costelloe, scored the game’s only goal 11 minutes into the second half.
It brought to an end their winless run of six games, including two cup games and back-to-back league defeats at the Brick Community Stadium, and it was a result their determined performance deserved.
The first half had been evenly contested, with Latics starting the brighter of the two sides.
Callum Wright and Costelloe both had early opportunities within the opening five minutes — Wright narrowly failing to connect with a cross before being penalised for handball, while Costelloe couldn’t quite get a shot away inside the six-yard box after some excellent hold-up play from Christian Saydee.
At the other end, Morgan Fox produced a superb last-ditch tackle to deny Dajaune Brown, who was through on goal following neat link-up play from former Latics striker Devante Cole.
The half ended in dramatic fashion when Costelloe was sent off just moments after nearly putting Latics ahead. His effort on the counter-attack was well tipped wide by Joe Gauci, and from the resulting corner, Costelloe lifted his foot high to challenge for a loose ball — catching Kyle John in the process.
The referee immediately blew for a foul and, after a brief pause, produced a red card to the disbelief of Costelloe.
At half-time, many may have expected Lowe to shut up shop and settle for a point with ten men, but the Latics boss had other ideas.
He introduced Asamoah and Jensen Weir for Callum Wright and Ollie Cooper, keeping faith with two strikers up front — a bold move that soon paid off.
Asamoah seized on a loose ball following a poor header from Vale’s Ronan Curtis, taking a sharp touch into the box before firing clinically past Gauci to give Latics a deserved lead.
Vale were lacklustre in their response as Latics defended well, reducing Cole and substitute Jayden Stockley to a couple of half-chances.
Mo Faal had their best chance with less than five minutes left on the clock. The substitute connected with a brilliantly delivered cross, but his header was well wide.
Asamoah nearly wrapped it up as the game went into seven minutes of stoppage time when he carried the ball from the halfway line and not the box, but his shot was saved.
Ruari Patton had one final chance to pinch a point at the death when Vale were given a free-kick on the edge of the box, but the wall did its job to produce a vital block.
Wigan: Tickle, Fox, Aimson, Murray, Wright (Asamoah Jr), Saydee (Mullin 87), Costelloe, Kerr, Smith, Cooper (Weir 45), Hungbo (Robinson 90). Subs: Savin, McManaman, Rodrigues.
Port Vale: Gauci, Heneghan (Stockley 70), C Hall, Byers (Walters 90), Garrity, Brown (Faal 61), Curtis, Debrah, John (Johnson 61), G Hall (Paton 61), Cole. Subs: Amos, Croasdale.