Wigan forward Stuart Fielden is tackled by Leeds Rhinos prop Luke Burgess during the Warriors' 24-4 win at the DW Stadium
Wigan produced a strong second-half performance to secure a hard-fought victory over injury-hit Leeds.
It took the league leaders until the 34th minute to break the deadlock, George Carmont slipping a tackle to give his side a 6-0 half-time lead.
Leeds hit back immediately after the restart as Ryan Hall punished an Eamonn O'Carroll knock-on to score.
But young winger Darrell Goulding went over twice either side of a Joel Tomkins score as Wigan stretched clear.
It was Wigan's seventh win in eight games, while reigning champions Leeds slipped to their fifth defeat - only one less than in the whole of last year's third successive victorious Super League campaign.
Both sides tackled ferociously during a fully committed, if error-strewn, first half, the physical nature of the contest resulting in Wigan using up seven of their 12 interchanges by the interval.
If anything, it was Leeds - without nine first-teamers including skipper Kevin Sinfield for a fourth straight game with a thigh injury - who looked the most likely to score before Wigan edged in front.
It took video referee Thierry Alibert to deny them an opening score, ruling that Rob Burrow had failed to get the ball down as he rolled over the line held by both Pat Richards and Thomas Leuluai.
And within seven minutes, Wigan had cashed in on that controversial let-off when they moved the ball through the line before Carmont stepped back inside Danny McGuire to go over.
Leeds looked to be back in the game when Hall went over in the corner as Wigan half-back Sam Tomkins limped off with a recurrence of his thigh problem.
But Wigan stretched their lead when Goulding dived over in the corner to finish an excellent set, set up by stunning breaks from Amos Roberts and Pat Richards.
Joel Tomkins then burrowed over from close range before Goulding touched down in the corner again for his second brace in successive home games.
Brent Webb thought he had scored a consolation for the visitors in the last minute but were again denied by the video referee, who ruled that Leuluai had prevented him grounding a Danny Buderus kick.
Wigan coach Michael Maguire:
"We probably didn't build a lot of pressure from our attack, it was our defence that got us through.
"They just kept working for each other. It was great character shown by a lot of the players.
"Leeds have been leading this competition for a long time and know how to perform.
"Whether or not they had players missing it was a credit to our guys to get the result."
Leeds coach Brian McClennan: "It has been a tough few days with Kylie Leuluai and Brett Delaney also going down. I have been scratching my head and lost a bit more hair.
"So I am very proud of them. We got stuck in and had a good dig.
"At the 50th minute I thought we had them rattled a bit but, credit to Wigan, they came back strong and set some nice pieces up.
"They jumped away from us but, keeping it all in context, I think it was a good effort from our team."
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