Wigan manager Shaun Maloney was thrilled with every aspect of his side’s 3-0 victory over 10-man Fleetwood at the DW Stadium.
The home side led 2-0 thanks to goals from Jordan Jones and Sean Clare when Joshua Earl was sent off for the Cod Army in first-half stoppage time for simulation in the penalty area.
The second period was only damage limitation, with Tom Pearce firing home a cracking free-kick just past the hour mark to put the icing on the cake.
“I thought the first half was very good and the contest changed in the second half after the sending off,” said Maloney.
“We had some brilliant individual performances, which always helps.
“I know we have some really talented players – (Martial) Godo, (Stephen) Humphrys and (Jordan) Jones were brilliant – and when we got them into good positions their talent took over.
“But I still loved the fact they gave me just as much out of possession as in it.
“In the second half, the game became reasonably controlled, the game was very, very different.
“Some games when we play the way we did tonight, I really enjoy watching it.
“But in other games, you can also enjoy the fight equally as much.
“And you have to show both sides if you want to get anywhere in this league.”
For Fleetwood manager Lee Johnson, it was a night that started badly – as Wigan led inside four minutes – and got progressively worse.
“It was a tough watch for sure,” he said. “This team has a lot to do, we knew that when we came in, the position we picked the club up in.
“But we’ve got a responsibility to the town, in my view, to the staff, to the people who work at the club, to give more than we gave in the first half.
“And that is what really, really hurts me.
“The game-changing moment, even though we were already 2-0 down, was obviously the penalty…or the sending off.
“It’s definitely not simulation, there’s no doubt about that, there is definitely contact.
“So the referee, in my view, has to either give a penalty or a goal kick, it’s as simple as that.
“We’ve been let down by the system in that sense and that’s where it becomes really frustrating for me as a manager because you can’t even appeal two yellows.
“The system seems pretty broken in that sense because we’re going to lose a player for a game that we don’t deserve to.
“In the second half, we salvaged a little bit of pride, in terms of the effort and the energy and the work rate.
“But there’s a lot to do, the confidence wasn’t there in the first half to play the way we wanted to play and it got progressively worse.
“Good players were making bad decisions too often and we might have to adjust how we look to start games.”
New Man Utd boss Amorim says he must win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said he will need to win matches in order to earn time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details.
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity."
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United debut.
But the former Portugal international added that having a young squad will not be an excuse if he fails to get the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
New Manchester United boss Amorim says he needs to win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said that he will need to win matches in order to win time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details."
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity," he said.
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United managerial debut.
But the former Portugal international also added that having a young squad will not be an excuse for not getting the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
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