One journey ended as another began in treacherous conditions at the DW Stadium, Wigan Athletic’s hopes of another FA Cup fairy tale banished as Southampton enjoyed the immediate bounce a change of manager can so often bring.
Mark Hughes can look forward to leading out a team at Wembley for the first time in his 14 years as a club manager after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cedric Soares’s second-half goals, their first for the club, secured a hard-fought win in the Welshman’s first game in charge.
Rather than serve as a distraction in their more pressing battle against Premier League relegation, a semi-final place might just provide Southampton’s players with the confidence lift they needed. As for Hughes, having been knocked out of the Cup with Stoke by League Two Coventry in January, he suddenly has a second bite at the cherry.
“Wembley will be a nice occasion,” said Hughes, who has a contract until the end of the season. “I’ve been to a few semi-finals as a manager but never quite made it to Wembley. We will enjoy it and take some positives out of it and hopefully it will help us in our league form as well.”
Wigan were the better team in the first half, and two bad misses from Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini, one from the penalty spot, either side of Hojbjerg’s goal, will have underlined to Hughes the problems this team have had in front of goal in their quest to beat the drop.
Mark Hughes
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Matt Le Tissier has called on Saints supporters to rally behind new First Team Manager Mark Hughes for the final stretch of the season.
The Danish midfielder was in the right place to convert a 62nd minute corner from Dušan Tadić to break his duck on his 54th Saints appearance.
After a difficult first half for the visitors, the margin of victory should really have been more convincing as Manolo Gabbiadini saw his penalty brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Christian Walton 11 minutes after the opener.
But Cédric was on hand to finish a clinical counter-attack with a well-placed shot that belied his previous record of 87 Saints appearances without scoring.
Hughes made only two changes in personnel from Mauricio Pellegrino’s final game in charge at Newcastle last weekend, but significantly included two strikers in his first starting line-up.
That meant Gabbiadini came into the team to support Guido Carrillo, with Sofiane Boufal drafted in to play on the left side of midfield.
Tadić started on the right, with James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond dropping to the bench.
Wigan, who had already defeated a trio of Premier League opponents in Bournemouth, West Ham and, famously, Man City, were not scared of Saints.
The hosts forced five corners in the first 16 minutes, playing one short to Nathan Byrne, whose deflected shot travelled almost in slow-motion as it bobbled inches wide of Alex McCarthy’s post with the keeper stranded.
Guido Carrillo is charged down by Wigan's impressive goalkeeper Christian Walton
What was noticeable from a Saints point of view was a willingness to attack in greater numbers, but both Boufal and Mario Lemina were guilty of shooting off target when half-chances presented themselves on the edge of the box.
Then Wigan attacked again through Gavin Massey, whose cross was headed by Jack Stephens only to Gary Roberts, but the ball just would not drop quickly enough for the midfielder, whose looping effort did not trouble McCarthy.
The Wigan corner count had reached eight by the half-hour mark, but clear sights of goal were proving at a premium for both sides.
The Latics were gaining confidence. One flowing move just lacked a final shot as the FA Cup’s leading scorer, Will Grigg, was crowded out, before Michael Jacobs ignored the run of Massey to his right when his teammate had a clear route to goal.
Hughes would have known he needed to see a second-half improvement. Gabbiadini saw a shot blocked within 30 seconds of the restart, while Boufal teased in a couple of low crosses that went unconverted.
Saints’ front two were still waiting for a clear-cut opportunity. In the end, it would be Wigan right-back Nathan Byrne to provide it, as he played an ill-advised backpass straight to Gabbiadini, who could not believe his luck.
Twelve yards out with a free shot at goal, Gabbiadini was frustrated by the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Walton, who denied a certain opener.
Cédric celebrates his first Southampton goal to secure victory in stoppage time
But Saints would not be denied. From a Tadić corner on the left, the Serbian picked out Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, whose bullet header was tipped over by the suddenly busy Walton.
That meant another corner, from which the same pair combined to deadly effect, as this time Højbjerg attacked the near post to steer a left-footed shot between Walton’s dive and defender Dan Burn on the goal line.
Now Saints’ Premier League status had become more apparent, as Wigan struggled to cope with the visitors’ extra gear.
On 73 minutes, the hosts should have been waving goodbye to their cup dream once and for all, as substitute Nathan Remond dissected their defence to feed the run of Gabbiadini, who was only stopped in his tracks by a clumsy sliding tackle from the frantically retreating Burn.
But as the Italian picked himself up to dispatch the spot-kick, he was denied by a flying save from Walton, who repelled a fiercely-struck penalty with his outstretched left hand to keep the tie in the balance.
Now with renewed belief, Wigan set about forcing Saints back, so Hughes responded by introducing Shane Long to force them back, and Oriol Romeu to plug the gaps.
With four added minutes, Saints would have to dig deep. Wesley Hoedt crucially headed clear as Wigan applied late pressure, but Cédric found himself in unfamiliar territory as Redmond led a swift breakaway, and finished with aplomb to send over 4,000 travelling fans into raptures.
Head to Head Stats Possession (%) 51 49
Shots 13 15
Shots on target 2 6
Corners 14 7
Passes Complete 301 277
