The team came out for the second half and the away support were hoping for more of the same as the Latics dominated West Brom.
Instead, there was a 'let's hang on' approach to the second half. Ball retentino was poor and the pressure started to mount.
The Baggies had a number of penalty shouts turned down and hit the post twice before Marc-Antoine Fortune headed the equaliser.
It was a crushing blow to the Latics and their loyal travelling support, especially given that the first half had gone so well.
Goals from Charles N'Zogbia and Ben Watson both direct from set-pieces, cancelling out Peter Odenwingie's opener, had given the Latics the lead.
It was another soft goal, and within the opening five minutes of such a crucial game. The Baggies goal came from a Wigan attack as Thomas fed Odemwingie who sloted past Al-Habsi in the blink of an eye. Everything pointed towards a long night for the Latics but that wasn't to be.
Both N'Zogbia and Watson were performing well for the Latics, N'Zogbia looking dangerous with his running, and Watson commanding in the middle of the park. It was a much improved display from the Londoner who spent time on loan with the Baggies last season.
Their goals were the icing on the cake of two leading performances.
Of most annoyance was the defensive outlook to the second half. Always looking to catch West Brom on the break, the Latics were defending a little to deep and not holding enough possession. Tiredness crept in and the Baggies started to create clear cut chances.
Sure enough Antoine-Fortune netted the equaliser. It is all eyes on the clash with Blackburn this weekend in another must win game.
Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
It was a really exciting game. It had everything. We all know how much it meant, and after starting really well we were caught on the counter attack and it was a very big mental test for our team.
I was very pleased with the reaction, because we got the ball down, controlled the game and created some very good chances.
The key moment in the game was the two very good opportunities that fell to Charles (N'Zogbia) and Hugo (Rodallega) in quick succession, and if either had gone in it would have been three points, game over.
Nine out of 10 times we would score, but after that we knew we would be put under a lot of pressure by a real quality team. We knew it would be an open game with chances for both sides, and that it would boil down to which side would take their chances at the right time.
Unfortunately the result probably doesn't make either side happy. Unfortunately we switched off on a set-play and that really cost us - which has been the story of our season.
We have to make sure we change that for the rest of the season and try and convert some of these good performances into points. I don't think anyone would have been surprised by the fantastic saves Ali made at the end.
He was there when the team needed us, although we have to say their goalkeeper made the save of the game to deny Charles N'Zogbia in the second half.
Roberto Di Matteo
The players gave me everything. We showed great spirit to get back into it. The fans were magnificent again and we'll need them right until the end. We were unlucky we didn't win.
I feel we deserved a bit more. We started well. We had an offensive team out and had 17 attempts on goal. We hit the post twice and their keeper made some incredible saves.
Sometimes, we need that little bit of luck where it comes off the post and goes in or drops in front of one of our players. But we certainly put pressure on Wigan and finished very strongly.
The table
| Latest match Tuesday, 1st February 2011 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Manchester United | 24 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 54 | 22 | 54 | +32 | ||||
| 2 | Arsenal | 24 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 23 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 50 | 23 | 49 | +27 | ||||
| 3 | Manchester City | 24 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 20 | 45 | +17 | ||||
| 4 | Chelsea | 24 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 46 | 21 | 44 | +25 | ||||
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 23 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 32 | 26 | 38 | +6 | ||||
| 6 | Sunderland | 25 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 30 | 28 | 37 | +2 | ||||
| 7 | Liverpool | 24 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 0 | ||||
| 8 | Blackburn Rovers | 24 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 31 | 37 | 31 | -6 | ||||
| 9 | Newcastle United | 23 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 33 | 30 | +3 | ||||
| 10 | Stoke City | 23 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 0 | ||||
| 11 | Bolton Wanderers | 24 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 34 | 35 | 30 | -1 | ||||
| 12 | Blackpool | 23 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 34 | 41 | 28 | -7 | ||||
| 13 | Aston Villa | 25 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 43 | 28 | -15 | ||||
| 14 | Everton | 24 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 28 | 31 | 27 | -3 | ||||
| 15 | Fulham | 24 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 25 | 26 | 26 | -1 | ||||
| 16 | West Bromwich Albion | 24 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 31 | 45 | 26 | -14 | ||||
| 17 | Birmingham City | 22 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 21 | 31 | 23 | -10 | ||||
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 25 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 22 | 41 | 23 | -19 | ||||
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 23 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 24 | 41 | 21 | -17 | ||||
| 20 | West Ham United | 24 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 24 | 43 | 21 | -19 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the visit of Blackburn Rovers to the DW Stadium. It is always a tough game against our rivals from East Lancashire but Roberto Martinez will no doubt be targeting maximum points from this one.