Di Santo and Kone fire home at Saints

Arouna Kone, left, scored Wigan's second goal against Southampton
25 August 2012

Franco Di Santo's classy strike put Wigan on course for a 2-0 victory at Southampton as the newly-promoted side paid for their inability to find a way past Ali Al-Habsi.

The Argentinian striker's second-half goal was followed up late on by an Arouna Kone effort as the Latics racked up their first points of the season at St Mary's.

Southampton, coming into the game off an impressive performance in losing 3-2 at champions Manchester City, had started brightly but on the handful of occasions they broke down a stubborn Wigan defence to get a sight of goal, Al-Habsi denied them.

The goalkeeper tipped Adam Lallana's powerful shot onto the bar while Jay Rodriguez and Danny Fox had chances blocked before the game turned scrappy in heavy rain before half-time.

Things began slowly after the restart but soon livened up as Athletic took a 51st-minute lead.

Play had started at the other end as Al-Habsi superbly saved a goalbound Rickie Lambert header before Wigan broke the deadlock as Shaun Maloney played through Di Santo to lash into the top right-hand corner.

The strike had the visiting fans in raptures, although only Al-Habsi prevented an immediate response from the hosts, making an acrobatic save to keep out a 25-yard half-volley from Fox after a corner.

Southampton came close when Jos Hooiveld's header looped on to the bar but it was Wigan who were looking the better side at the finish.

Kone almost netted after a neat one-two with Jordi Gomez and then struck the killer blow in the 89th minute.

He dispossessed Jose Fonte - with strong suspicions of a foul - on the half-way line and then raced away to slot past Kelvin Davis.

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