Bottom of the league Wigan piled the pressure on Steve Bruce by coming from a goal behind to win 2-1 on Wearside with a goal at the death. Sunderland took the lead early in the first half through Seb Larsson and could have been out of sight by half time had Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi not produced a string of saves to deny Sunderland. However Wigan got back in the game on the stroke of half time through Gomez’s penalty before Sunderland catastrophically gifted Franco Di Santo an injury time winner in comical fashion.

After last Saturday’s bore draw with Fulham, through the week it seemed every single squad member gave an interview and had their say on the result and performance but promised to put it right against Wigan. To do this the players couldn’t have wished for a better fixture as Steve Bruce’s former side headed to Wearside bottom of the league and having taken only one point away from home all season.

The return from suspension of Seb Larsson at the expense of Elmo was the only change with Sessegnon reverting to left wing while Kieran Richardson advanced to play just off Bendtner in the hole.

Wigan actually started the better and had two efforts on goal inside five minutes, one sailed well over and the other stung Westwood’s hands. But we took the lead on ten minutes through Seb Larsson who got onto the end of a loose ball and put into the top corner with his left foot. The opportunity was created by Bendtner, who had been told by Steve Bruce to be more selfish in front of goal, tested Al Habsi from long range. The keeper spilled the Danes effort to Kieran Richardson who had a shot blocked before eventually falling to Larsson who made no mistake.

The goal seemed to settle the lads down and Sessegnon began tormenting the Wigan defence with his trickery though his low cross evaded everyone bar Figueroa. We almost doubled our lead through Larsson again from a set piece won by the quick feet of Sessegnon though the Swede was denied by Al Habsi. The rebound fell to Phil Bardsley on the edge of the area but his shot was also saved. Al Habsi made another two great saves to first deny a Wes Brown header and also to deny John O'Shea who tried to flick a cross in from close range. Bardsley should have scored five minutes before half time when Sunderland counter attacked well and Richardson found the defender in the box unmarked. However Bardsley's effort was poor and sailed handsomely over the bar.

Just before half time Larsson went from hero to villain when he was adjudged to have fouled Moses and gave away a penalty. Jordi Gomez made no mistake from the spot sending Westwood the wrong way rolling the ball into the bottom right hand corner. A bit harsh going in level at half time on Sunderland but ultimately we failed to take our chances.

We started the second half quite well with Bendtner shooting wide before we were denied a penalty when Stam appeared to have blocked Colback's shot with his hand. The second period of the game was scrappier with Wigan happy to defend with Sunderland struggling to break them down despite having the majority of the possession

With around half an hour to go Bruce made a double change with Vaughan and Gardner replacing Cattermole and Bardsley. Kieran Richardson had two efforts on goal the first a clipped shot wide of the post and the second a glancing header in which he should have scored. I thought the double change killed the momentum we had as Vaughan and Gardner struggled to get into the game whilst we were missing someone with a presence up front who would have been willing to break their neck to get onto the end of some of the decent crosses provided by Colback.

Five minutes to go Bruce made his final role of the dice replacing O’Shea with Ji but as we piled forward we were hit with a sucker punch when Wes Brown slipped dealing with a long clearance. James McArthur capitalised and passed to Di Santo who made no mistake in front of an open goal.

Boos rang out at the SOL and while in past games “Bruce Out” chants have been muted and sporadic, today they were deafening as the gaffer cut a solitary figure making his way down the tunnel.

Final Score: Sunderland 1 Wigan Athletic 2

ALS Man of the Match: Really?

Aidan Crowe

ALS T Shirts click here