Stoke swept aside Second Division leaders Wigan to continue their revival
under manager Tony Pulis by booking their place in the FA Cup fourth round.
Summer signing Chris Greenacre, with just two goals in his first 15 games for
Stoke, doubled his tally for the season by scoring either side of half-time.
In between, Chris Iwelumo scored his fourth goal in the last five games as
Stoke completed a hat-trick of home wins in the space of eight days.
Wigan boss Paul Jewell sprang a major surprise by leaving leading scorer
Nathan Ellington on the bench, and by the time he brought on the 17-goal
marksman at half-time his reshuffled team were two goals down.
Within three minutes of coming on, Ellington wasted a golden opportunity to
pull the Latics back into the tie but he headed fellow half-time substitute Lee
McCulloch's cross wide from six yards.
And when Greenacre headed home his second of the game after 66 minutes the tie
was beyond the reach of the visitors. To complete their day, Stoke secured their
first clean sheet since the opening day of the season.
The home side, buoyed by successive wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Preston,
started confidently and took only 19 minutes to break the deadlock.
Having earned Stoke's first corner of the game, Greenacre swept home Bjarni
Gudjonsson's flag-kick from six yards past John Filan.
City had already gone close twice through midfielder Brynjar Gunarsson before
the opening strike, and Greenacre could have added to his tally on 27 minutes
but from Peter Hoekstra's cross he fired wide of the right-hand upright.
After a brief period of pressure from the visitors, City went 2-0 ahead in the
32nd minute. Iwelumo fed Hoekstra on the right, and when the Dutchman delivered
the final ball Iwelumo was in the right place to volley a superb strike past
Filan.
Wigan could have pulled a goal back five minutes later when Nicky Eaden's
cross saw Jason Jarrett head goalwards but Neil Cutler made the save.
And twice after the break Gary Teale had a part in chances that could have
thrown Wigan a lifeline. First Teale's cross was volleyed over the bar by Andy
Liddell, then Cutler made a smart save to deny Teale from 18 yards.
Having weathered that storm, though, City made sure of their passage with the
third goal in the 67th minute. Marcus Hall made ground on the left before
picking out Greenacre and the striker dispatched the ball past John Filan from
six yards.
Filan had to be at his best to keep out defender Wayne Thomas' 77th minute
volley before Teale's close-range drive missed the target to deny Wigan a late
consolation.
Teams:
Stoke: Cutler, Thomas, Handyside, Shtanuk, Marcus Hall,
Gudjonsson (Neal 90), Gunnarsson, O'Connor (Henry 90),
Hoekstra, Iwelumo, Greenacre (Goodfellow 85).
Subs Not Used: Marteinsson, Viander.
Booked: O'Connor, Hoekstra.
Goals: Greenacre 20, Iwelumo 31, Greenacre 67.
Wigan: Filan, Eaden, Jackson, Breckin, Green (McCulloch 46),
Kennedy, Jarrett, Mitchell, Teale, Liddell,
Roberts (Ellington 46).
Subs Not Used: Flynn, Beasant, Brannan.
Booked: Jarrett.
Att: 9,618
Ref: A Butler (Nottinghamshire).
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