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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