A five-star performance from Blackpool saw them ease past strugglers Wigan

Blackpool showed their class against a struggling Wigan with five fine goals completing a demolition at the DW Stadium.

Neil Critchley’s men scored two goals in two minutes late in the first half through Marvin Ekpiteta and Jerry Yates to give their side a commanding lead. A third through Matty Virtue killed the game before a debutant double from Ellis Simms rounded off proceedings.

The early spell of the game saw Wigan dominate most of the possession as they opened up on the front foot, albeit not finding the quality to create chances in the final third.

Blackpool could not settle in the game as the Latics were happy to commit numbers forward, with the Seasiders relying on their aerial presence to get the ball out of potentially dangerous areas.

It took 20 minutes for the first real chance to come and it was the visitors who came close. A well-fashioned build-up, finished off with a dummy run from Gary Madine leaving Ethan Robson free to strike from the edge of the box, however, it fell harmlessly wide.

With chances few and far between, Wigan broke down the left-hand side before a fine whipped cross fell on the free head of Kyle Joseph, but his header was poorly judged and fired high over the bar.

From that chance onwards Blackpool began to get a foothold in the game, dominating the forward play in the latter stages of the first half. It was a game devoid of quality with both sides lacking the cutting edge to breakthrough, with several sloppy touches on a poor surface.

That was until a corner that was whipped in well by James Husband before Madine won his header well aiming downwards with it being well saved by Wigan goalkeeper Jamie Jones before a goalmouth scramble was poked home by Marvin Ekpiteta to give them the lead.

The Tangerines were not done there with a second goal in two minutes just before half time giving them a commanding lead. A poor central direct ball was not dealt with by the Wigan defence and the ball fell to Jerry Yates inside the area, with his instinctive finish going into the top right corner.

There could have even been a third for Blackpool as Wigan fell apart praying for the half time whistle. Bez Lubala crept into the opposition area and his deflected effort landed to Matty Virtue who could not quite divert his through ball into Yates.

Early in the second half, a low sweeping ball across the face from Wigan’s Tom Pearce from the left-wing bypassed everyone in the box and fell to Joseph who scuffed his shot wide of the target.

The lack of cutting edge from the Latics came to bite them again as Blackpool killed the game in the 53rd minute.

The Seasiders’ direct approach to Madine caused yet more issues as he found Lubala who turned and composed himself before linking wide with Husband who cut the ball back to the penalty spot where Virtue lurked, with the ex-Liverpool man firing the third into the top left corner.

Wigan looked to bring themselves back into the game as Pearce’s in-swinging free-kick from the right-hand side was missed by everyone and scrapped just a yard wide of Chris Maxwell’s goal.

Callum Lang evidently was not best pleased by that missed effort and went on a mazy, one-man run past three Blackpool defenders and was only stopped by a fine diving save from Maxwell, as the home side hoped to break his clean sheet.

New Seaside recruits Kevin Stewart and Ellis Simms made their league debuts in the 68th minute with Yates and Robson being replaced with an eye on their Saturday fixture at home to Burton. Joseph was also substituted for Wigan as he bowed out for Oliver Crankshaw.

League debutant Ellis Simms missed a certain first professional goal as a superb threaded pass from MJ Williams saw him bare down on goal, but he could not squeeze his chance in between the legs of Jamie Jones in the home net.

Simms made up for that chance, beating Jones in the Wigan goal after a Madine flick on and finishing the scraps from a yard out to add another for the away side.

Robert Apter made his league debut for the Tangerines at the age of 18 replacing Virtue with a minute of normal time remaining.

Simms made things even worse for Wigan as he completed the five-goal demolition. His debut counterpart Apter’s corner towards the near post fell straight on to the Everton loanees’ head as he nodded the ball into the bottom right corner.

Blackpool recorded their first win of 2021 in emphatic fashion. That was a result they have threatened a few times this season and Critchley will be glad to see his side take the chances they created in ruthless measure.

For Wigan, they continue to struggle, despite five unbeaten games before this one. They showed bright sparks through Kyle Joseph and Tom Pearce but with both looking likely to head for the exit door, you must wonder how much longer they can delay the inevitable.

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