Wigan Athletic verdict as Ryan Lowe's side go down to Leyton Orient defeat in the capital
Wigan Athletic were brought back to earth with a bump in the capital, falling to a 2-0 defeat at Leyton Orient.
Ryan Lowe’s men were second best throughout, unable to build on their opening-day win over Northampton. Steven Sessegnon endured an afternoon to forget, scoring an own goal for Orient’s opener before being sent off late on.
The tone was set within two minutes when James Carragher hobbled off with a leg injury, replaced by Jon Mellish.
From there, Orient seized control and rarely let go, with Latics struggling to string together any meaningful passages of play. The breakthrough came on 18 minutes when a cross from Josh Koroma, who troubled Latics all game, was inadvertently chested into his own net by Sessegnon from close range.
At the other end, the hosts had clearly done their homework on Christian Saydee and Dara Costelloe, tightly marking the pair and swarming them whenever they received possession.
While Orient dominated the half, they created few clear-cut openings, most efforts coming from outside the box. Latics’ first sight of goal came from a 30-yard set piece, but Joseph Hungbo’s delivery was overhit and drifted out.
The London side grew stronger as the half progressed. Ollie O’Neill should have doubled their lead on the half-hour mark when a defensive mix-up left him with time and space, but he dragged his shot wide of Sam Tickle’s post.
Idris El Mizouni and Aaron Connolly were also afforded room but fired off target.
Latics finally showed some life in stoppage time when Hungbo’s run won a corner, though Tommy Simkin’s goal remained untested.
Lowe made one change at the break, bringing on Callum Wright for Tobias Brenan, and his side started a little sharper. Jensen Weir tried his luck from distance, but his effort flew wide, while Hungbo remained the main creative spark.
The winger picked out Murray with a perfect cross-field pass, and after Murray was hauled back, the resulting free-kick led to half-chances for Hungbo and Mellish, but neither could connect cleanly.
The revival was short-lived. On the hour, Koroma was given too much space inside the box and rifled a superb strike into the top corner, leaving Tickle helpless. Moments later, the Latics keeper produced a brilliant save to deny Diallang Jaiyesimi, blocking with his boot after a sweeping Orient move down the left.
Lowe turned to his bench with 25 minutes remaining, introducing Maleace Asamoah Jr, Paul Mullin and Isaac Mabaya for Saydee, Costelloe and Hungbo, but the changes failed to spark a comeback.
Sessegnon’s miserable day was complete when he brought down Connolly as the forward raced through on goal, earning a red card. From the resulting free-kick, Tickle made another fine save to tip Joe White’s strike away, but the damage had long been done.
Orient: Simkin, James, Adaramola (Moorhouse 86), Happe, O’Neill, El Mizouni, Connolly (Craig 86), Koroma (Abdulai 81), Beckles (c), Jaiyesimi (White 86), Clare (Bakinson 57) Subs: Cahill, Simpson.
Latics: Tickle, Carragher (Mellish 5), Kerr, Sessegnon, Brenan (Wright 45), Francois, Murray, Weir, Hungbo (Asamoah Jr 68), Costelloe (Mabaya 68), Saydee (Mullin 68) Subs: Watson, Trevitt.