Report: Wigan Athletic 3-3 Iron

The Iron drew 3-3 against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

United didn’t get off to the best of starts when Wigan’s Chey Dunkley headed his side into the lead in the 13th minute, but Tom Hopper struck back just three minutes later with a wonderful looping header.

There was then late drama at the end of the first 45 minutes. Wigan retook the lead through Will Grigg, but another immediate response from Hopper drew the Iron level in stoppage time.

After an eventful first half, ex-Wigan loanee Ivan Toney gave the Iron the lead for the first time in the match with a powerful effort.

Wigan then made it 3-3 with four minutes left. Gary Roberts advanced on the left before his effort deflected into the back of the net.

Manager Graham Alexander made one change to the starting XI, which saw Toney replace Hakeeb Adelakun.

There was an early opportunity for the hosts inside the opening three minutes. Defender Cameron Burgess blocked a shot, with the rebound falling to Will Grigg, but the striker lashed his volley over the bar.

Ten minutes later, and Wigan had taken a 1-0 lead. Max Power’s corner was headed into the back of the net by defender Chey Dunkley.

The Iron then came extremely close to levelling the game up with a couple of chances. Hopper latched onto a throughball, lashing his first shot at goalkeeper Christian Walton, before striking the right post with the follow-up.

However, seconds later, Hopper did get his goal, equalising for the Iron. Funso Ojo lifted a beautiful ball over the Wigan defence and the forward ran onto it looping his header over Walton.

Goalkeeper Matt Gilks then made a smart stop to deny Nick Powell. The ball set up nicely for the attacking midfielder, who saw his shot deflect off Ojo and into Gilks’ hands.

Towards the end of the half, Grigg put the Latics back in front. A cross came in from the left and the striker’s attempt took a cruel deflection as it bounced into the bottom left corner, with Gilks wrong-footed.

Wigan were on the search for another goal before the interval. Space opened up for Michael Jacobs, whose long range effort was parried away by Gilks.

However, the Iron came back with another instant response when Hopper headed home his second equaliser of the match. Neal Bishop delivered a fantastic cross into the area, which Hopper expertly met with a header flying into the far corner.

Wigan came out firing after the break and came close to scoring if it wasn’t for Bishop. Jacobs got a connection on the ball from a corner, but Bishop cleared the ball off the line. That was closely followed by an effort from Powell, with the strike skipping wide.

Gilks was forced into a save in the 52nd minute. Jacobs made good progress on the left wing before sending a cross to the far post, but the goalkeeper made a great save to deny Power from close range.

The Iron then hit Wigan on the break and took a 3-2 lead. Great work from Hopper allowed Josh Morris to curl in a fantastic cross, which was headed onto the crossbar by Ryan Yates. The ball then landed to Toney, who controlled the ball and smashed it into the target.

In the 79th minute, the ball found its way to Grigg, but his shot went wide of the goal from inside the area.

With four minutes left to play, Wigan equalised to make 3-3 via another deflection. Substitute Roberts fired across goal and it took a deflection with the ball wickedly going into the back of the net.

United pushed forward late on and had a penalty shout denied when Toney was felled, while Yates was also brought down on the edge of the area but nothing was given.

TEAM LINE-UPS
Wigan Athletic: Walton, Byrne (Roberts, 83’), Perkins (Vaughan, 61’), Morsy (c), Power, Grigg, Jacobs, Dunkley, Powell, James (Bruce, 61’), Burn.
Unused substitutes: Jones, Walker, Massey, Fulton.

Scunthorpe United: Gilks, Wallace, Ojo, Toney, Morris, Bishop, Hopper, Holmes, Burgess, McArdle (c), Yates.
Unused substitutes: Watson, Townsend, Crofts, Adelakun, Goode, McGeehan, Wootton.

Attendance: 8,438.

Referee: Dean Whitestone.