Chapter 629: A Stretch Of Games! [2]

For a moment, the away end fell quiet.

Brighton supporters had come hoping to see their side settle an old score.

Instead, they were watching their team struggle to cope with an opponent who seemed to have an answer for everything.

The players looked uncertain whenever Wigan advanced, and the home side were moving the ball with the sort of confidence that made even a three-goal lead feel dangerous.

The break offered Brighton a chance to regroup, but it did little to change the pattern of the game.

Wigan returned with the same control, while Leo continued to cause problems in his unfamiliar position.

He was making almost every touch count.

Rather than chase possession, he waited for the right moment, then turned quickly and drove at the space in front of him.

Brighton’s defenders were tiring.

Their midfield was being pulled out of shape, and the gaps between the lines were becoming harder to protect.

And when Leo was still looking for a goal of his own, Wigan found a fourth.

In the seventy-sixth minute, he collected the ball near the edge of the area and drew two defenders towards him.

Both expected him to shoot or attempt to force his way through.

Instead, he slipped a pass into the space behind them, finding Ashley Fletcher in front of goal, and Fletcher only had to guide it home.

The large scoreboard in the stadium flipped again in favour of Wigan.

By then, several pockets of the away end had emptied.

The supporters who remained watched their side retreat, seemingly more concerned with preventing another goal than finding one of their own.

Brighton managed to see out the remaining minutes without conceding again, but the final whistle brought little relief.

They had not merely lost.

They had been outplayed for long stretches, and the scoreline hardly flattered Wigan.

After the game, the reaction spread quickly beyond the DW Stadium.

Supporters of rival clubs questioned whether Brighton had simply forgotten how to play, while others wondered if Wigan’s January business had made an already dangerous side even stronger.

Willian, at thirty-five, had looked sharp on the wing while Henderson, at thirty-three, had brought composure to the middle of the pitch.

Both had registered an assist on their debuts, and neither had looked out of place in a team fighting for the Premier League title.

Yet the conversation inevitably returned to Leo.

His two assists had helped decide the match, but it was the manner of his performance that caught people’s attention.

He had spent the evening finding pockets of space, drawing defenders out of position and opening the game up for his teammates.

The number ten role appeared to suit him, and with that, some supporters began asking whether Reyes should be worried about his place in the side.

Others pointed out that the two offered different qualities and that one match was hardly enough to settle the debate.

Still, it was difficult to ignore how comfortably Leo had taken to the position.

Dawson had moved him there to try something different.

Against Brighton, it had looked less like an experiment and more like another problem for the rest of the league to solve.

With the 22nd matchday out of the way, the Premier League table began to reflect what had happened across the weekend.

Liverpool had answered Wigan’s victory with a commanding 4–1 win over Chelsea, keeping themselves within reach of the leaders. But the gap remained six points.

Wigan now had 57 points.

Liverpool had 51.

The title race was far from over, but Wigan had given their rivals little reason to expect a sudden collapse.

Back in the town, the mood grew brighter with every result.

Matchdays had become events in their own right, drawing supporters from beyond Wigan and bringing fresh business to pubs, restaurants and shops near the stadium.

Some came for the football.

Others came because they wanted to be part of what was happening.

Local businesses were beginning to feel the difference, and the club’s success had given the town something new to talk about throughout the week.

By the time Wigan prepared for their next match, the excitement had travelled with them.

Newcastle United were waiting at St James’ Park.

The two sides had already met 6 games ago or, if one wanted to be specific, 4 league matchdays ago.

Newcastle had the home crowd behind them and enough quality to punish mistakes, but Wigan arrived with confidence and little interest in changing a formula that had just produced four goals.

Dawson kept Leo in the number ten role and this time, the decision paid off almost immediately.

Wigan worked their way into the match before Leo found space outside the penalty area.

He took a pass in stride, glanced up and struck from distance.

The Newcastle players threw themselves into the way as expected, but the ball, aimed at the top corner, kept rising beyond the goalkeeper’s reach before crashing into the net.

It was the sort of goal that left the home crowd silent for a moment before the noise returned.

Leo barely had time to enjoy it before he helped create the second.

Wigan broke forward again, and Leo picked up possession with Newcastle’s defence retreating.

He waited for Callum Lang to make his run, then threaded a pass through the gap between the defenders.

Lang reached it first and finished cleanly, putting Wigan two goals ahead away from home.

Newcastle United 0–2 Wigan Athletic.

Newcastle tried to respond, but Wigan defended their lead without losing their shape.

Henderson and Power kept the middle compact, while the back line dealt with the crosses and second balls that came their way.

When Newcastle found a way through, they struggled to turn promising positions into clear chances.

Despite the early strikes, the score remained unchanged until the final whistle almost an hour later.

Two matches under the new arrangement had brought Wigan seven goals, two clean sheets and another reminder of how much danger Leo could cause from behind the striker.

He had scored a spectacular goal at St James’ Park, supplied Lang for the second and once again made the difference when his team needed him.

By now, supporters were no longer asking whether Wigan could recover their form after the break.

They were wondering how far this run could go, especially when the next fixture was already approaching, with Sheffield United due at the DW Stadium.

The crowds continued to swell, and the atmosphere around the ground had become noticeably different from the early months of the season.

The Wigan fever was becoming more and more real as the matchdays ticked by with the side genuinely looking like they would probably win the league even if one didn’t want to admit it.

Their training sessions were met with reporters and fans alike, all watching from the stands at the Christopher Park.

Wigan were on top, to say the least.

Dawson, however, was not interested in letting the excitement dictate his selection.