Yohan Cabaye scored his first goal for Newcastle to fire them to a 1-0 win over Wigan and condemn them to a sixth straight defeat.
Toon maintain unbeaten streak against lowly Latics
Yohan Cabaye scored his first goal for Newcastle to fire them to a 1-0 victory over Wigan and condemn the struggling Latics to a sixth straight Premier League defeat.
The game remained locked at 0-0 until the 81st minute, when substitute Sylvain Marveaux turned on the edge of the box to set up Cabaye, who made no mistake in driving home past Ali Al Habsi.
The result will pile pressure on Wigan boss Roberto Martinez, with the visitors now sitting rock-bottom of the standings.
In sharp contrast, Alan Pardew's Toon remain unbeaten this season and are still flying high in fourth on level points with Chelsea ahead of the Blues' trip to QPR on Sunday.
Lively opening
With Hugo Rodallega starting his first game after a month out with a knee injury, Martinez's men were far from over-awed and dominated the early stages.
Rodallega had a first minute shot blocked by Fabricio Coloccini and Mohamed Diame also struck the legs of former Latic Ryan Taylor in a lively opening.
Wigan should have gone ahead in the fifth minute when Rodallega headed down for Victor Moses to volley a rising shot which was superbly tipped away by Tim Krul.
The Latics had another glorious chance in the 15th minute when David Jones sent Rodallega galloping clear but the striker screwed a right-foot shot wide of target.
At the back, Antolin Alcaraz continued to make up for his nightmare against Bolton last week with a superb saving tackle to deny Leon Best a shooting chance in the Latics box.
Newcastle had their first clear chance in the 33rd minute when Best met a Gutierrez cross with a bouncing shot in front of goal which was superbly parried by Al Habsi.
And five minutes before half-time Pardew's men had another chance when Ben Watson barged Gutierrez on the edge of the box and Taylor curled the resulting free-kick just wide.
The home side made a brighter start to the second half and almost went ahead after 50 minutes when Demba Ba met Taylor's left-wing cross with a flashing header which Al Habsi gathered well.
The home side were beginning to dominate but were still struggling to create clear-cut chances as Wigan's much-maligned defence held firm.
Cabaye and half-time substitute Hatem Ben Arfa both had chances blocked in the box in quick succession before Gary Caldwell booted clear.
Playing much deeper, the visitors were clearly intent first and foremost on safeguarding a point, with Rodallega given scant support on his rare forays forward.
Frustration
The frustration was beginning to tell for the home side as Wigan got back in the match, and Crusat was not far from finding the head of Rodallega in the box in the 78th minute.
A scything run down the left by Ben Arfa moments later ended in a low shot which was blocked well by Al Habsi as the Magpies made a belated bid to wrest back the momentum.
And they seized it in style in the 80th minute when Marveaux played the ball back to Cabaye who curled a right-foot shot past Al Habsi from the edge of the box.
The visitors still had time to push for an equaliser, but Moses trickled a cross across the face of goal and Diame headed a good 88th minute chance just wide.
| Newcastle United |
Team Statistics |
Wigan Athletic |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
9 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 7 |
Corners |
3 |
| 7 |
Fouls |
22 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 81.2 |
Passing Success |
77.8 |
| 12 |
Tackles |
26 |
| 75 |
Tackles Success |
80.8 |
| 53.8 |
Possession |
46.2 |
| 50.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
49.7 |
| 426 |
Total Passes |
370 |
| 31 |
Total Crosses |
24 |
| 165 |
Lost Balls |
157 |
| 69 |
Recoveries |
46 |
|
