London: Two first-half goals handed West Brom their first win away from home in the Premier League this season as they edged out Wigan 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
James Morrison put the visitors ahead, nodding in from a corner, before their lead was doubled thanks to an own goal from Gary Caldwell.
The Latics struck back before the half was out through Arouna Kone, but failed to find a second goal as Steve Clarke`s men held firm.
Unsurprisingly, Roberto Martinez picked the same XI that impressively won 1-0 at Tottenham last weekend, with Kone and Franco Di Santo leading the line.
Meanwhile, West Brom made four changes from the side that comfortably dispatched Southampton in their last match, with Boaz Myhill, Morrison, Chris Brunt and Romelu Lukaku all earning starting spots.
After an early spell of Wigan pressure it was West Brom who began to slowly take control of proceedings. After Lukaku had almost made Maynor Figueroa pay for a poor clearance, the Baggies took a deserved lead in the 31st minute. Brunt’s delivery was timed to perfection, allowing Morrison to head home his third goal of a highly impressive season so far.
Within 10 minutes the lead was doubled. Having previously found the side-netting with a drifting shot that had Ali Al-Habsi beaten, West Brom right-back Billy Jones skipped into the Wigan area and his attempted cross was turned into the net inadvertently by Caldwell.
The Baggies fully deserved to be two in front but within seconds the deficit was halved when a drilled Jean Beausejour delivery from the left was stabbed home by Ivorian striker Kone from inside the six-yard box to give the hosts a boost.
Indeed, Latics boss Martinez`s half-time team-talk appeared to have the desired effect as Wigan came out with a sense of renewed purpose. However, West Brom retained a threat on the counterattack with their pace and almost extended their lead when a loose ball was thrashed towards goal by Lukaku only for Al-Habsi to superbly tip the ball over the bar.
That chance appeared to knock the stuffing out of the home side somewhat as the Baggies proceeded to continually find holes in the Wigan half. One such moment saw Liam Ridgewell charge in dangerously from the left-back position but, with several team-mates to aim for, he only found the back of the stands with an ill-advised shot.
Wigan continued to work hard and finally fashioned an opportunity to equalise with 20 minutes to play when Shaun Maloney, in acres of space inside the area, scooped his shot over the bar. An even better chance was to arrive on 80 minutes when Di Santo directed a downwards header wide of the goal.
The Argentine`s miss appeared to drain all belief out of the DW Stadium and even five minutes stoppage time were not enough as West Brom comfortably held on to win.
Goal.com
First Published: Sunday, November 11, 2012, 08:54