Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Wigan Athletic: Massimo Luongo earns Owls win over Wigan

Massimo Luongo's second-half goal was enough for Sheffield Wednesday to beat Wigan Athletic in the Championship.

Luongo brought a flat game to life with his 57th-minute strike as he guided home Adam Reach's pull-back from 15 yards out.

Wigan almost levelled 10 minutes later when Kieffer Moore's header was tipped onto the crossbar by Keiren Westwood.

Wednesday could have made the game safe with 16 minutes to go, but Steven Fletcher's close range finish was ruled out for offside after David Marshall had kept out Reach's volley.

The win was Wednesday's third in five league games since Garry Monk took over as manager a month ago and moved them up to eighth in the Championship, a point off the play-off places, while Wigan stay 19th in the table.

The Owls had Westwood to thank for a great double save after 15 minutes as he first foiled Gavin Massey and then Jamal Lowe before Massey followed up the latter's effort with a shot just wide of the post.

Barry Bannan had Wednesday's best effort before the break as the former Scotland midfielder hit the post with a curling left-footed shot from the edge of the box after 39 minutes.

And they had the better chances following the interval as Fletcher and Bannan both went close after Australia international Luongo's first goal for the club.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"Obviously, overall the most important bit was to make sure we went into the international break with a win. We deserved those three points today.

"I thought, structurally we dealt with (the game) really well. The defenders (were) much more assertive in the second half, in terms of winning headers, our tackles and our clearances.

"We controlled the game enough to give us that lead and we did well and saw the game out. The most important bit is another three points and a clean sheet going into the international break."

Wigan Athletic manager Paul Cook:

"I didn't think it was a great game, if I'm being truthful. There were very few clear-cut chances. As an away team, did we deserve a point? I felt we did, but unfortunately goals change games.

"The league is what it is and every game is tough. It's demanding and the margins between winning and losing can be quite fine sometimes.

"There are plenty of teams in the division who expect to get out of the division and are below us in the league, so I think you've got to manage your own expectations sometimes."