Shaun Maloney couldn’t contain his pride when everything came together perfectly for Wigan Athletic leading them to victory against Bristol Rovers and clinching a top-half finish in League One!
Two goals from Josh Magennis (30) and Jonny Smith (48) secured a 2-0 victory for Latics, although the scoreline fails to reflect the dominant performance displayed by Maloney’s squad.
Goalkeeper Sam Tickle had minimal involvement in the match, as most of the action took place in the opposition’s half, where goalkeeper Jed Ward made a series of impressive saves to keep Latics at bay.
Even when Ward was finally beaten, defender James Wilson heroically cleared a shot from Martial Godo off the goal line, and Magennis had a ‘goal’ disallowed for offside.
Maloney expressed his joy with the team’s performance, stating, “It’s a really satisfying way to conclude the season. I’m thrilled with our style of play in this final game.”
“We’ve moved up to 12th place, and my goal was to finish in the top half, especially considering everything we’ve been through.
“We came out with a lot of aggression from the start, and I couldn’t have asked for more from the players.
“Their goalkeeper made some impressive saves, but we felt like we had a strong momentum throughout the game.
“Today, everything just fell into place, and we’ve been working towards a performance like this for a while.
“We showed glimpses of this against Charlton, Portsmouth, and Lincoln, but today we put it all together for the entire match.
“It’s one thing to have possession, but it’s another to be consistently threatening with it. Today, I felt that we posed a threat throughout the game, and I was pleased with what I witnessed.
“The first goal was crucial, giving us the breakthrough we needed, as there were times we played well but couldn’t capitalize.
“Luckily, we’ve been scoring some beautiful goals lately, and that trend continued today.”
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