Boss John Mousinho refused to get too carried away despite Portsmouth extending their unbeaten run to 21 matches thanks to a 2-1 Sky Bet League One victory at 10-man Wigan.

The Latics took the lead through Martial Godo but two goals in the space of six minutes just before half-time from Regan Poole and Paddy Lane were enough to secure the win for Pompey.

Wigan had to play for 41 minutes with 10 men after Charlie Wyke was sent off for a lunge on Marlon Pack but they kept pushing to the end.

But Pompey kept them at arm’s length to cement their position at the top of the table.

“It’s not about the unbeaten run today, it’s just about the result,” said Mousinho. “I’m absolutely thrilled to come away to a place like this and win.

“They are a very decent, very decent side, and I thought they showed that in the first half.

“They’ve beaten some very good sides this year and I’m absolutely delighted with the result.

“They were a Championship side last season and have still got some fantastic players.

“You know you’re going to go behind in some games, not everything is going to go your way. It’s going to happen when you’re playing at this level against good sides.

“But the good thing about this group is how well they respond to adversity and that’s exactly how it was today.

“It’s always difficult when you go behind to a good side, in front of a bumper crowd here, but it felt like even though we went behind, there was no panic.

“I always felt we would get back into it and we managed to do that.”

Wigan boss Shaun Maloney refused to point the finger at referee Will Finnie, whose decision to red card Wyke led to a commotion in the technical area that saw Latics No 2 Graham Barrow yellow-carded along with Portsmouth counterpart Jon Harley.

“Look, it wasn’t a great tackle and it gives the referee a decision to make,” he said. “I can understand why the referee has made the decision.”

Wigan also had a hat-trick of penalty shouts turned down, with Maloney adding: “I haven’t seen the ones with Thelo (Aasgaard) and Charlie (Wyke) in the box, I’ve only seen the handball.

“Yeah, look, I think the referee has probably got that one wrong, in my opinion.

“But I don’t complain about referees too much, these things happen, you can’t change what’s happened.

“We knew it was going to be a big fight with 10 men and I thought we did that, even with 10 men, we continued to take the game to them.

“There’s ways to lose games…last weekend (after the 4-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers), I felt completely differently.

“We just have to improve how we defend the box because we made it far too easy for them to score – especially considering how good our goal was.

“But the effort the team gave, and the quality they tried to bring with 10 men, I feel very different this weekend to last weekend.”

Shaun Maloney saluted two-goal marksman Charlie Wyke as Wigan wiped out their eight-point deduction inside four League One games after thrashing Bolton 4-0.

Wyke started and finished the scoring at Toughsheet Community Stadium with a Stephen Humphreys’ double sandwiched in between as Latics ended Wanderers’ 100 per cent start to the campaign in emphatic fashion.

The visitors’ third win of the season lifted them on to two points while Ian Evatt’s Trotters suffered a harsh reality check after four wins in all competitions.

“Every bit of credit goes to Charlie,” said Wigan manager Maloney of his frontman who had a defibrillator fitted after suffering a cardiac arrest in 2021.

“He came back on day one of pre-season in incredible condition. It was like signing a new player.

“What he has been through is well documented but he has put a lot of hard work in and continues to put hard work in.

“So, every bit of praise he gets is well deserved.”

Wigan’s eight-point deficit over wages payments had some fans fearing a second successive relegation, but the club’s flying start to the season has indicated a much brighter future.

“We came to terms with it (the deficit) in the summer,” added Maloney. “I understand why we got it, the situation the club was in.

“What was hard was how to broach it over the summer. We gave ourselves six games and we are obviously ahead of schedule.

“We could not have thought we would have this good a start. But I knew with the players we brought in and during pre-season, something was happening.”

Wanderers bossed possession and created 20 shots but rarely looked capable of getting back into the contest after Wigan’s Wyke-inspired start.

Wyke opened the scoring in the 12th minute before Humphrys’ brace in the 24th and 45th minutes made it 3-0 at the break.

Bolton boss Ian Evatt said: “There is an awful lot to take in. We can all be honest and say we didn’t see it coming.

“We have got to make sure this result doesn’t define our season which is crazy to say after just four games.

“For the first time though someone has punched us on the jaw and we didn’t recover. The game was gone before we knew it.

“It was one of those games where we lost every moment, lost every duel and just lost the basics of football.

“The ball seemed to fall to them every time but I am a firm believer you make your own luck

“On the day though Wigan played it was like a derby. We played like we were going to come and have everything our own way as we have done so far this season.

“The general performance wasn’t a 4-0 game. But they punished us on every moment and the first 10 minutes rocked us and we didn’t recover.

“Every time we looked like we were going to gain momentum we got punched on the jaw again.”

Owen Moxon’s close-range effort earned winless Carlisle a 1-1 draw with Wigan at Brunton Park.

Moxon lashed home from six yards early in the second period, cancelling out Charlie Wyke’s finish.

Callum Lang, Callum McManaman and Thelo Aasgaard all went close as Wigan dominated in the early stages.

On the half-hour mark, former Carlisle striker Wyke volleyed against the crossbar, but just four minutes later Wigan went ahead.

A marauding run by Baba Adeeko saw him slide the ball through to Wyke, who delightfully dinked his side into the lead.

Charlie Hughes saw his towering header rattle the outside of the post as the visitors sought to double their advantage soon after.

After the break, Moxon capitalised on Latics keeper Sam Tickle’s mistake and smashed home United’s equaliser.

Buoyed by the goal, United almost went ahead when Ryan Edmondson headed wide after 75 minutes.

Lang nearly won the game for Wigan but failed to connect to a late ball into the box.

Charlie Wyke scored a brace as Wigan edged a 2-1 League One win at promotion favourites Derby as the new season got under way.

Wyke scored in each half, either side of Craig Forsyth’s equaliser for Derby early in the second half.

The hosts created plenty of chances in the opening 30 minutes but Sam Tickle made good saves from James Collins and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

Sonny Bradley headed wide but Wigan also had their moments with Callum Lang narrowly off target before Thelo Aasgaard fired just over from 20 yards.

It got even better for Wigan in the 38th minute when Bradley’s backpass sent Wyke through to round Joe Wildsmith and score.

Lang ran clear in the 45th minute but failed to beat Wildsmith and Latics were punished when Forsyth volleyed a superb 57th-minute leveller from Joe Ward’s cross.

Forsyth was denied by Tickle in the 70th minute but – two minutes later – Wyke headed in Tom Pearce’s cross.

Wigan, who started the season on minus eight points, held on through nine minutes of added time to claim an impressive win.