Match ends, Huddersfield Town 1, Wigan Athletic 0.
HuddersfieldHuddersfield Town1WiganWigan Athletic0
Midfielder Adam Clayton's late strike gave Huddersfield a narrow victory over fellow mid-table side Wigan.
Clayton fired in his fourth goal of the season, beating away goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi at his near post with a 20-yard strike five minutes from time.
Wigan had looked set to register a sixth clean sheet in eight league games until the former Leeds player struck.
Huddersfield's Oliver Norwood had hit the bar with a 40-yard free-kick four minutes before Clayton's winner.
The home side, boosted by the return of striker James Vaughan from a knee injury, dominated the early exchanges.
A goal-line clearance from James McArthur kept out Tommy Smith's header before Vaughan twice narrowly failed to connect with teasing crosses from Adam Hammill.
Wigan, who have now failed to score in their past three away games, grew into the match, with loan signing Martyn Waghorn providing their brighter moments.
But he was first involved in a bizarre incident on 14 minutes when, affected by the wind, he kicked the flag instead of the ball at a corner.
Referee Mark Brown insisted the corner be taken again, much to the disgust of Norwood, who was lucky not to be booked for dissent.
Marc Antoine-Fortune hit the top of the bar with a shot from Waghorn's pass after 52 minutes before Waghorn himself twice went close.
The on-loan Leicester player first hit the side-netting from close range when Fortune put him in, then blazed over from McArthur's cross.
At the other end, substitute Danny Ward grazed the side-netting with a near-post shot from Norwood's diagonal through-ball.
But Ward's introduction turned the tide in Town's favour and they began to dominate, with Clayton and Norwood coming in their own in the closing stages.
Huddersfield manager Mark Robins:
"I am delighted with the win because the conditions were so tough.
"At times it looked like no one had played the game before but I thought what quality there was on show came from us.
"The game was just strange and surreal and the conditions dictated it."
Wigan manager Uwe Rosler:
"I am as happy as I can be having lost the game. Huddersfield caused us big problems but we coped very well in difficult circumstances.
"We had more chances and more possession and we restricted them to shots from long distances.
"I felt the wrong team won. If we play like that we will win more than we lose."
Line-ups
Huddersfield
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Smithies
- 12Hammill
- 3Dixon
- 33LynchBooked at 67mins
- 39Gerrard
- 27Smith
- 6Hogg
- 8Clayton
- 21WellsSubstituted forWardat 61'minutes
- 9Vaughan
- 4Norwood
Substitutes
- 2Woods
- 5Clarke
- 7Scannell
- 11Ward
- 13Bennett
- 16Southern
- 18Lolley
Wigan
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 26Al-Habsi
- 24Perch
- 3Crainey
- 14Gómez GarcÃa-PencheSubstituted forMcCannat 82'minutes
- 17Boyce
- 25Barnett
- 33WaghornSubstituted forMcManamanat 71'minutes
- 8Watson
- 32Fortuné
- 16McArthurSubstituted forMaynardat 88'minutes
- 22Beausejour
Substitutes
- 4McEachran
- 7McCann
- 11McClean
- 13Nicholls
- 15McManaman
- 18Espinoza
- 29Maynard
- Referee:
- Mark Brown
- Attendance:
- 15,576
Match Stats
Home TeamHuddersfieldAway TeamWigan
- Possession
- Home45%
- Away55%
- Shots
- Home13
- Away12
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away1
- Corners
- Home12
- Away13
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away12
Live Text
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Full Time
Second Half ends, Huddersfield Town 1, Wigan Athletic 0.
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James Perch (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by James Vaughan (Huddersfield Town).
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Paul Dixon (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic).
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Foul by Marc-Antoine Fortuné (Wigan Athletic).
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Joel Lynch (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ben Watson (Wigan Athletic).
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Oliver Norwood (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Nicky Maynard replaces James McArthur.
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Leon Barnett (Wigan Athletic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by James Vaughan (Huddersfield Town).
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Offside, Wigan Athletic. Chris McCann tries a through ball, but Marc-Antoine Fortuné is caught offside.
Goal!
Goal! Huddersfield Town 1, Wigan Athletic 0. Adam Clayton (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner.
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Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Emmerson Boyce.
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Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Ben Watson.
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Attempt blocked. Adam Clayton (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Oliver Norwood.
Substitution
Substitution, Wigan Athletic. Chris McCann replaces Jordi Gómez.
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Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Callum McManaman.
