REPORT: Peterborough United 2, Wigan Athletic 1: Posh strike late to complete a perfect February

Posh looked set to suffer a shock defeat at the hands of their relegation-threatened visitors when Wigan substitute Thelo Aasgard scored direct from a corner 20 minutes from time.

But Posh manager Darren Ferguson rung the changes and two of his substitutes, Mo Eisa and Harrison Burrows, combined for Clarke-Harris to head home an equaliser in the 81st minute.

A silly trip on Siriki Dembele three minutes later then gave Clarke-Harris his chance to win the match from the spot and he didn’t fail.

Clarke-Harris has now scored in seven games in a row as Posh completed their perfect February of six wins in six matches.

The result was harsh on Wigan who belied their lowly position with plenty of aggression and power, as well as some fine play. Posh ‘keeper Christy Pym was the busiest he’s been for a long time.

Posh named an unchanged side for the third League One match in a row. Former Wigan goalkeeper Dan Gyollai returned from a bout of self-isolation to sit on the substitutes’ bench.

Ferguson warned his players they would be facing aggressive opponents and he was spot on. Once Dembele had swerved a 20-yard shot wide in the first minute, he and Sammie Szmodics were closely marked and tested physically. It was a test they rarely looked like passing in the first-half.

Indeed the best chances before the break fell to Wigan with Dodoo blocking a clearance from Dan Butler onto the post on 10 minutes and goalkeeper Christy Pym making an excellent close range block to thwart Gavin Massey from close range following a corner.

The powerful Dodoo caused centre-backs Frankie Kent and Mark Beevers all sorts of problems. Wigan played off him well and looked lively on the breakaway.

Dodoo charged down a Nathan Thompson clearance and raced into the penalty area, but the Posh defender recovered to make a fine tackle.

Posh created nothing before the break. Free kicks from Clarke-Harris and Joe Ward from the edge of the area came to nothing and when the Posh top scorer controlled a corner he couldn’t get any power into his shot.

As has become custom, Posh started the second half well. A period of pressure ended with Clarke-Harris just sending a header wide.

Clarke-Harris then volleyed over the bar from 20 yards.

Posh continued to dominate as Wigan started to look tired. Dembele beat his man on the edge of the area to create a shooting chance, but was denied by a fingertip save from visiting ‘keeper Jamie Jones.

Wigan rallied and after a terrific long crossfield pass from Funso Ojo, Viv Solomon-Otobar burst into the area, but fired straight at Pym. Pym also saved a 25 yarder from Callum Lang with ease before gathering a driven cross from Tandayi Darikwa.

End-to-end play continued with Jack Taylor asking for a penalty after a fall in the area. His request wasn’t given.

Wigan found their second wind and Pym had to get down well to keep Gavin Massey’s shot out, but from the corner the goalkeeper was beaten badly by Aaasgard’s inswinging which flew into the net in the 71st minute.

Ferguson’s reaction was instant and changed the game. After a neat pass from Eisa, Burrows sent in a superb cross to create the equaliser. And two minutes later the excellent Darikwa spoilt his game with a trip on Dembele.

Wigan went long during five minutes of added time against a defence now lacking the substituted Mark Beevers, but Posh held firm with Pym keeping out a fierce Dodoo drive and then catching the subsequent corner which must have been a relief after what had gone before.

Posh: Christy Pym, Dan Butler, Mark Beevers (sub Harrison Burrows, 80m mins), Nathan Thompson, Frankie Kent, Joe Ward, Reece Brown (sub Ethan Hamilton, 80 min), Jack Taylor, Siriki Dembele (sub Ricky-Jade Jones, 90 + 1 mins), Sammie Szmodics (sub Mo Eisa, 73 mins), Jonson Clarke-Harris

Unused subs: Dan Gyollai, Idris Kanu, Niall Mason.

Wigan: Jamie Jones, Tendayi Darikwa, Scott Wootton, Curtis Tilt, Luke Robinson, Funso Ojo, Dan Gardner (sub Thelo Aasgard, 67 mins), Gavin Massey (sub Will Keane, 86 mins), Viv Solomon-Otabor (sub George Johnston, 86 mins), Joseph Dodoo, Callum Lang.

Unused subs: Owen Evans, Corey Whelan, Zach Clough, Alex Perry.

Goals: Posh - Clarke-Harris (81 mins & pen, 84 mins).

Wigan - Aasgard (71 mins).

Cautions: Posh - Beevers (foul), Clarke-Harris (delaying the restart).

Wigan - Robinson (foul).

Referee: Thomas Bramall 7.