Wigan Athletic vs Luton Town FC (17th Jan 2023)

FA Cup R3 Replay Report | Wigan Athletic 1-2 Luton Town

The Hatters booked a fourth round tie at home to Grimsby with a 97th-minute winner from Elijah Adebayo seeing off Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.

Cauley Woodrow had drawn the Town level five minutes into the second half, just moments after Thelo Aasgaard had given the Latics the lead. Then, with extra-time looming, Adebayo volleyed in his second goal in as many games - and fifth of the season - to secure the win.

Manager Rob Edwards made four changes from Saturday's league defeat against West Brom, with Reece Burke and Gabe Osho starting in defence against the Latics once again, as they did at Kenilworth Road ten days ago.

Louie Watson started in midfield with Allan Campbell and Jordan Clark, who wore the captain's armband for the first time, whilst Cauley Woodrow kicked off in a more forward role alongside Elijah Adebayo - who scored his first goal since October at the weekend. Top scorer Carlton Morris missed out after picking up a slight calf injury against West Brom.

Woodrow created space for himself to register the game's first effort on goal inside the opening two minutes, beating his man on the edge of the box before his attempted chip was deflected over for a corner, which the hosts defended well.

The former Barnsley man had a hand in the next opening on 11 minutes, this time heading Watson's deep cross into the six-yard box for Adebayo, whose header was straight at Ben Amos in the Wigan goal, before spurning a great chance himself seven minutes later, nodding Burke's excellent outswinging centre over the bar after good work on the right by Bree.

As the Hatters continued their domination of the opening 20 minutes, Bree was next to have a go, but his curling 25-yard free-kick wouldn't come down enough to trouble Amos.

Wigan posted their first moment of intent on 26 minutes when Town could only clear a corner as far as the edge of the box, where Thelo Aasgaard flashed a low shot through a thicket of legs but wide of Horvath's right post.

Woodrow was at the heart of all the Hatters' attacks, and his inviting low cross from the right edge of the penalty area just evaded Campbell and Adebayo as it zipped across the six-yard box.

Burke was alert at the other end to produce a perfectly timed block as Wigan pressed from a long throw, with Adebayo's attempted clearing header rebounding back off a Wigan head into the danger area as half-time approached.

The hosts broke the deadlock less than a minute into the second half when another long throw from the right was headed to the edge of the area and Aasgaard smashed a volley into the top corner, giving Horvath no chance.

Town were level within four minutes when Bree and Burke combined on the right to free Campbell, whose cross was smashed at goal by Woodrow, only for keeper Amos to puish it straight back to him. The Town forward dug a second shot out, which beat Amos and was hacked clear by a defender, only for Hawk-Eye to rule that the ball had crossed the line.

Wigan made a double change on 63 minutes, replacing their front two of Callum Lang and Ashley Fletcher with Will Keane and Josh Magennis, while Edwards made his first switch at the same time, introducing Harry Cornick for Campbell.

Doughty fired a 25-yard shot on 67 minutes and was clattered by Tom Naylor in the process, requiring treatment with a corner the only reward for the Hatters for the Wigan midfielder's deflection. Moments later it was Naylor going down in the Town box, under challenge by Doughty, but referee Matthew Donohue waved away the hosts' appeals for a penalty.

Adebayo saw a 73rd-minute header blocked, then almost immediately Woodrow played Cornick through into the Wigan box with a delightful chip, only for Wigan sub James McClean to get back to clear off the line, with Amos beaten.

Adebayo hit a shot on the turn as Wigan struggled to clear a deep cross by Bree with ten minutes to go, but Amos saved comfortably, then Woodrow saw an 85th-minute shot blocked behind for a corner after good work in the box by Cornick, before Doughty's attempted curler from the right was headed clear with a minute of normal time left.

Burke became the first Hatter into the referee's notepad for late foul on McClean, and Adebayo reacted well to block Jack Whatmough's goalbound header from the Republic of Ireland international's set piece.

Horvath got his body behind another Aasgaard volley a minute into seven added on at the end of the regulation 90, before Edwards replaced Bree with Tom Lockyer for the closing stages.

After all seven additional minutes had been played, Adebayo scored a dramatic winner with a low finish past Amos, his second in as many matches.

Goals:

WA - Aasgaard 46

LT - Woodrow 50, Adebayo 90+7

Att: 5,668 (191 Hatters)

Reaction | Rob Edwards on Wigan replay win!

Manager Rob Edwards dedicated tonight’s FA Cup replay victory against Wigan Athletic to the 191 Luton fans who made the trip for the first of two games at the DW Stadium this week!

As the game looked set to go to extra-time after Cauley Woodrow had cancelled out Thelo Aasgaard’s opener, Elijah Adebayo scored his second goal in as many matches in the eighth minute of additional time to book a tie with Grimsby Town in the Fourth Round.

“I’ve got to start with giving the fans a massive shout-out and saying thank you, Edwards said in his post-match press conference. “It meant a lot, I know it’s not easy travelling a long, long way, best part of a 400-mile round trip through snow, freezing cold and an FA Cup replay. Thank you very much first and foremost, I’m really pleased.

“It was a game I thought we had lots of control in, we were expecting that, I thought we started really well, had one or two big chances and then struggled to create. We started the second half in very strange fashion, they scored a great goal but it was poor from our point of view but we showed loads of character to come back quickly and ultimately keep going to find a winner.

“I want to stay humble. We’re back here on Saturday so we don’t want to get carried away. It’s a great feeling now but we come here in the league on Saturday and there will probably be a different feel so I want to stay grounded and not get carried away.

“We’re very pleased, it’s great to win a game especially late on in the way we did it. Delighted for Eli, two goals in two which is great for him as well.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttya-PWLZ8A – Rob Edwards post match interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zREMfVDB6OU – Match highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-AH0MnLD5o – Jordan Clark interview

Adebayo the stoppage time hero as Luton defeat Wigan in FA Cup replay

FA Cup third round replay: Wigan Athletic 1 Luton Town 2

Town striker Elijah Adebayo scored a late, late, late winner as the Hatters reached the FA Cup fourth round with a stoppage time winner over Wigan Athletic this evening.

It had looked for all the world that a seemingly never-ending game would be going to extra time, a further 30 minutes that no-one really wanted, until Adebayo thankfully struck in seven minutes of added on time, with a classy close range finish.

The visitors had made four changes to the side who lost 3-2 to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, as Gabe Osho and Reece Burke returned to the defence, with Louie Watson and Cauley Woodrow also starting.

Carlton Morris missed out with a slight calf injury, Dan Potts, Tom Lockyer and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu dropping to the bench.

The visitors made a decent start, Woodrow showing some sublime skills to ghost past two markers and see his scooped shot deflect over the bar for an early corner.

That set-piece came to nothing, but another on 11 minutes almost bore fruit, cleared out to Watson whose deep ball was nodded back across by Woodrow, Adebayo's header straight at Ben Amos.

Still Luton looked the most likely to break the deadlock, Burke's instinctive cross leading to Woodrow getting underneath his header, before James Bree's 30-yard free kick didn't come down in time.

Wigan created their first opportunity midway through the half, Thelo Aasgaard, he who scored a cracker at Kenilworth Road in the Latics' Championship victory, teed up on the edge of the box only to drag badly wide.

A first half with little goalmouth action was then almost typically followed by two in the opening six minutes of the second period.

Less than 60 seconds in and Luton were behind, a clearance met on the volley by Aasgaard as the former Liverpool youngster thrashed his effort into the top corner.

Yes, it was a brilliant strike by the midfielder, but as mentioned, the Hatters knew all about his ability from distance, and really should have had a man stationed at least in his vicinity.

However, Town hit back with an instant equaliser just five minutes later when Allan Campbell's low cross as met by Woodrow whose first-time effort was parried by Amos, the forward volleying the rebound back where it came, with referee Matthew Donohue's watch confirming it had crossed the line.

Just after the hour mark, boss Rob Edwards brought on the scorer from the first game, Harry Cornick, for Campbell, but as expected, the contest reverted to type, with neither side looking capable of winning it in normal time.

Finally, Luton started to pick up the tempo, clearly not wanting to prolong the fixture, as they began to dominate both possession and territory.

A deep cross was met by Adebayo and cleared away, with Doughty teed up to see his fierce effort blocked.

It looked like Cornick might find the net once more, as he sprang the offside trap with 15 minutes left, and went clean through.

The attacker sorted his feet out to squeeze a low shot past Amos, but not the covering James McLean who cleared off the line, with Donohue confirming it hadn't gone over this time.

Although Will Keane was unable to test Ethan Horvath, as time started to run out, still Edwards’ side looked the more likely, Adebayo spinning and shooting straight at Amos from 12 yards.

There had long been a growing inevitability that extra time was on the cards, Aasgaard trying to prevent that, although on this occasion placed his volley too close to Horvath.

However, Town then won it when a cross from Cornick made it all the way through to Adebayo, and this time, to the delight of his team-mates, manager, and 191 travelling fans, he swivelled and rifled past Amos to seal a fourth round tie with Grimsby Town later this month.

Latics: Ben Amos, Tom Naylor, Jack Whatmough, Max Power, Curtis Tilt, Callum Lang (Josh Magennis 63), Joe Bennett (James McLean 59), Ashley Fletcher (Will Keane 64), Tendayi Darikwa (C), Thelo Aasgaard, Charlie Hughes.

Subs not used: Jamie Jones, Ryan Nyambe, Gwion Edwards, Anthony Scully, Baba Adeeko, Abdi Sharif.

Hatters: Ethan Horvath, James Bree (Tom Lockyer 90), Reece Burke, Gabe Osho, Amari'i Bell, Alfie Doughty, Louie Watson (Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu 90), Allan Campbell (Harry Cornick 64), Jordan Clark (C), Cauley Woodrow, Elijah Adebayo (Cameron Jerome 90).

Subs not used: Harry Isted, Casy Pettit, Elliot Thorpe, Dan Potts, Luke Berry.

Referee: Matthew Donohue.

Booked: Whatmough 55, Tilt 79, Burke 90, Hughes 90.

Attendance: 5,668 (191 Luton).

Edwards eager to give a 'massive shout-out' to Luton's supporters who travelled to Latics victory

Town boss praises Hatters followers

Hatters boss Rob Edwards was eager to thank the 191 travelling Luton fans who made the trek to Wigan Athletic for their FA Cup third round replay this evening and cheer their side on to a 2-1 victory.

With snow and freezing conditions greeting the 191 supporters who made the journey north, they were rewarded with witnessing both Town goals at their end, Cauley Woodrow’s strike adjudged to have crossed the line to make it 1-1 and then Elijah Adebayo’s stoppage time winner.

On going through to face Grimsby in the next round, Edwards said: “It’s really good, obviously, really, really good.

“I’ve got to start, I don’t know how many fans made the journey today, but I’ve got to give them a massive, massive shout-out and say thank you, it meant a lot.

“I know it’s not easy travelling a long, long way.

"It's probably the best part of a 400-mile round-trip, through snow and freezing cold for an FA Cup replay, so thank you very, very much first and foremost.

“I’m really pleased, it was a game I thought we had lots of control in, we were expecting that.

"I thought we started really, really well and had one of two big chances, then probably struggled to create too much and started the second half in very strange fashion.

“They scored a great goal, but it was poor from our point of view.

"We showed loads of character then to come back quickly and ultimately keep going and pushing and find the winner, so we’re delighted.”