Bristol Rovers lost for the first time in three Sky Bet League One outings after falling to a 2-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic at The Brick Community Stadium.
The Latics broke the deadlock in the early exchanges, with James Carragher latching onto Joe Hungbo’s cross to plant his downward header beyond Josh Griffiths.
Gatlin O’Donkor had a golden chance to level for the Gas in the second half, getting on the end of Lino Sousa’s corner before having two shots saved brilliantly by Sam Tickle, who displayed great reflexes to keep a clean sheet.
Instead, Wigan secured the victory with a second goal moments later through Jonny Smith, with the substitute curling his effort past the goalkeeper with great composure.
The Pirates came into the contest with back-to-back wins in Sky Bet League One but fell behind inside six minutes.
Hungbo won a free-kick on the right before brushing himself down and whipping an inviting left-footed delivery into the box, with Carragher rushing onto the cross and powering his header into the bottom corner.
The Latics were aiming to secure their first home victory since November and gained confidence from their early opener. Dale Taylor approached the edge of the area, looking to double their lead. However, he curled his low strike just past the post.
Chances then went quiet, with a wayward shot from range courtesy of Ruel Sotiriou being the only attempt from Rovers before Gatlin O’Donkor had an opportunity to score just before the half-hour mark. A misplaced pass from Wigan let the forward rush towards the goal, but his left-footed strike along the turf was claimed by Sam Tickle.
The Oxford loanee was in the middle of the action again five minutes later, bursting into the middle to get onto the end of Ruel Sotiriou’s pacy cross before bundling the ball wide under pressure from two defenders.
The second half then struggled to get going before O’Donkor had the best of his trio of opportunities to level the score. Lino Sousa’s teasing corner from the right bounced across the box and fell to the 20-year-old, who had two close-range strikes saved in quick succession.
Behind but creating chances, Iñigo Calderón made attacking alterations to put the hosts under pressure. Scott Sinclair, Shaq Forde and Chris Martin replaced Luke Thomas, Romaine Sawyers and Isaac Hutchinson, but as the Gas opened up, they conceded again.
Dale Taylor slotted a ball through to substitute Smith, who raced one-on-one with Griffiths before cooly slotting his attempt past the goalkeeper.
The Latics almost put the contest out of sight moments later when the ball dropped to Thelo Asssgaard, but he crashed the bar.
Rovers struggled to respond to the setback in the scoreline and could not test Wigan’s goal again in the contest and fell to a defeat to Wigan for the second time this campaign.
Wigan Athletic: Tickle, Aasgaard, Kerr ©, Sibbick, Robinson, Smith, Carragher, Norburn (McHugh 69), Taylor (Godwin 87), Thomas (Mellish 87), Hungbo (Smith 54)
Subs not used: Watson, Aimson, McManaman
Goals: Carragher 7, Smith 70
Booked: Hungbo 32
Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Senior, Sousa (Mola 76), Wilson ©, Ward (Lindsay 76), Sotiriou, Thomas (Sinclair 62), Sawyers (Forde 62), Taylor, Hutchinson (Martin 69), O’Donkor
Subs not used: Hall, Moore
Booked: Wilson 40, Sawyers 45+2, Thomas 58
Referee: Scott Jackson
Attendance: 10,112 (492 away)
