26 mins Mo Diame swapped passes with Isaac Hayden on the edge of the box, forcing his way past two defenders and beating veteran Jussi Jaaskelainen with a low effort from seven yards. 1-0

Half time: Latics 0 Magpies 1

78 mins Yoan Gouffran pushed on down the left before pulling the ball back. The pass eluded Diame but fell to substitute Christian Atsu, who took a touch before hammering home a rising left footed effort to register his third Newcastle goal. 2-0

Full time: Latics 0 Magpies 2

Rafa Benitez:

"We have had some games where we couldn't score the second goal and then we had problems.

"It’s really good when you win, because you know they (the fans) will go home happy. The support of the fans is massive and amazing - if we can keep it the same until the end of the season, then that is good news." 

Latics boss Warren Joyce said:

"There were some good opportunities but even more frustrating was that there were opportunities where we didn't even get contact or efforts on target.

"There was no devilment, no real aggression to get a goal.

"Every game, barring the Reading game, we've always been in with a chance of winning it. I don't think any of the top sides have come here, played us off the park, cut through us and given us real problems."
 

Newcastle reclaimed top spot of the Championship with a clinical display at the DW Stadium thanks to a goal in each half from Momo Diame and Christian Atsu in front of the cameras on Wednesday.

Brighton's victory at Blackburn 24 hours earlier had seen the Seagulls return to the top of the table, but Rafa's side quickly responded for the second time in a week to regain pole position. 

The performance wasn't that sparkling, but winning at one of our least favourite grounds is worthy of praise - as is scoring twice in this part of Lancashire for the first time since 1954.

After his previous trio of strikes came in the EFL Cup, Diame retained his place as part of an unchanged Magpies selection and netted his first league goal for United against his former club.

The usual heavy pitch here didn't help (Wigan making their intentions clear at half time by watering it further) and the home side's approach was evident after when Jaaskelainen admonished a ballboy for doing his job too swiftly - after just four minutes of the first half.

That was a rare moment of class in a game that never really got going; United retaining their cautious approach and passes going sideways as often as forward once they were a goal up. 

An effort from Jonjo Shelvey that Jaaskelainen almost parried into his own net on half time was the only other notable scoring opportunity for Rafa's side and the second half followed a similar pattern.

That meant a Wigan side only kept off the bottom of the table by beleaguered Rotherham stayed in the game and had begun to sense that an equaliser was a possibility.

For all their pressure though (and some dangerous crosses that skidded across the box) Wigan looked like a team en route to a fifth successive home game without scoring - the apparently inflammable Will Grigg a damp squib that failed to alarm anyone....

Karl Darlow's clean sheet only looked in jeopardy when Andy Kellett shot from a dangerous position on 68 minutes. The goalkeeper was equal to that one and ten minutes later was leaping for joy as Christian Atsu struck to finally allay any fears of a sucker punch of the Aston Villa variety.

While other teams have flirted with the upper echelons of the table before falling away (notably Norwich), Chris Hughton's Seagulls remain the chief threat - unbeaten in 15 outings and with just a pair of defeats all season.

Just as tellingly though, tonight's win also extended the gap over third-placed Reading to nine points - and a goal difference of +27 compared to the +0 of the Royals worth another point in reality.

Nice though it would be to win the league it's essentially meaningless - and the momentum we've regained may yet diminish again in the coming weeks. The Shelvey situation remains unresolved, with his like for like replacement not readily identifiable and Jack Colback's absence lengthening.

Add in the fact that both scorers tonight will be in Gabon next month rather than Gallowgate (a tournament that won't affect Brighton's squad, Cameroonian Bong in dispute with his country) and one or two new faces may well be heading our way as soon as the calendar changes. Safety first.
 

Biffa