Wigan Athletic boss cites 'harsh' gamechanging moment against Sunderland

Wigan Athletic boss Kolo Toure was left to bemoan a 'harsh' penalty call at the three-quarter mark that turned the game against Sunderland on its head.
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Latics were holding their own against a Sunderland side when the visitors made a triple change, including the introduction of forwards Ross Stewart and Patrick Roberts.

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REPORT: Wigan Athletic 1 Sunderland 4

Within two minutes, Roberts had been tripped in the box by Tom Naylor, allowing Stewart to put the Black Cats 2-1 up.

Callum Lang saw this second-half effort superbly blocked by Sunderland defender Luke O'NienCallum Lang saw this second-half effort superbly blocked by Sunderland defender Luke O'Nien
Callum Lang saw this second-half effort superbly blocked by Sunderland defender Luke O'Nien
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Latics themselves had just created a great opportunity to go in front, only for Callum Lang’s shot to be magnificently blocked by Luke O’Nien.

Roberts and Amad Diallo added late goals to give the scoreline a lop-sided look, but Toure pointed to the game-changing moment as proof of his side doing it tough at the moment.

"I thought it was a tough result, because the boys gave everything again tonight," said Toure, who had seen Will Keane equalise after Ellis Simms' opener.

"We started the game well, and managed to come back after the disappointment of conceding the first goal.

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"In the second half, we managed to put them under pressure, and we could have gone 2-1 in front, if Callum had squared the ball across goal.

"Unfortunately that didn't happen, and after the penalty it was tough for us.

"The penalty, in my opinion, was harsh, and I don't think a team like Sunderland needed those kinds of decisions to help them.

"After that we are chasing the game, and you have to react to that.

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"We want to keep attacking and score, and when you're playing against a Sunderland side with so many attacking options, you are risking being punished."

On the back of the 4-1 beating at Middlesbrough, Latics are now rock bottom of the second tier.

Toure, though, prefers to look beyond the scorelines.

"I feel they have been two scorelines that didn't reflect the games we played," he said.

"Conceding goals of course isn't great.

"But trying to score goals when you are losing is part of the game, you have to go for it.

"We are not a team that, when you are losing a game, you just try to defend.

"We want to come back in games, but when you do that, you can lose 4-1 - and that is very tough to take."