CHAPTER 150: LACKLUSTER WIGAN.

Darikwa placed the ball, took one short step back, and rolled the free kick toward the edge of the cluster forming wide.

Callum Lang opened up his body and whipped it in first time, aiming for the pack of shirts charging into the area, but the delivery never threatened.

It sailed too high, too flat, and drifted beyond everyone.

It bounced once near the far corner.

Amad Diallo read it earlier than anyone.

He was already sprinting, cutting across the byline to keep the ball alive.

Thelo Aasgaard chased him, reaching in to apply pressure, but Diallo slid the ball through the gap behind him with a small touch that stunned half the stadium into silence.

"That’s a clever little escape," the analyst said. "He’s turned a poor cross into a chance to break."

In the next heartbeat, the pitch flipped.

Diallo accelerated up the right flank, turning the recovery into a full sprint.

Three strides took him past the halfway line.

Four more and he had Wigan scrambling backwards in panic.

James McLean broke into a run behind him, chasing as hard as his legs would allow.

He nearly reached him near the corner of the box, but Diallo angled his body across the ball, forcing McLean to hesitate or risk a foul.

"Look at him go," the lead commentator said. "This is trouble for Wigan."

Diallo chopped inside with a sharp step, then slipped the ball back out to the right where he had just come from.

Trai Hume arrived in stride, took a touch to steady himself, and then nudged a pass into the penalty area.

The pass wasn’t blistering, but it was precise.

It rolled across the grass toward a pocket of space where Diallo looked as if he would collect it again, and that small deception drew Tilt into a full commitment.

The defender lunged in, ready to intercept.

Diallo let the ball go under him, jumping cleanly over it.

"That’s brilliant," the analyst breathed. "He’s sold him completely."

Behind them, Ellis Simms arrived with perfect timing.

He let the pass come across his body, then hammered it toward the far corner while Hughes clattered into him from behind, arriving a second too late.

The shot flew past the keeper and hit the net with a thud that silenced the home stands as the Sunderland end exploded.

Simms hit the ground but bounced up laughing, unfazed by the hit as he wrapped both arms around Diallo, who was already grinning, and the pair slid together on their knees toward the corner flag as their supporters roared in delight.

"That is a ruthless counterattack," the lead commentator said as the noise in the away end swallowed the rest of his sentence.

"Wigan were caught completely open," the analyst added. "Diallo made every decision at the perfect moment, and Simms... well, that’s what a striker is paid to do."

On the pitch, the celebrations spilt over the advertising boards, red and white shirts piling into one another in sheer joy while the DW struggled to process how quickly the match had shifted.

Dawson stepped right up to the edge of his technical area the moment the celebrations dragged on near the corner flag.

He clapped hard, quick, and sharp, trying to pull his players’ heads back into the game.

His voice cut through the lull, firm and measured.

"Don’t mind, don’t mind."

A few of his players glanced his way as they trotted back toward the centre circle, but didn’t linger.

"We go again," Dawson said finally. "It’s one goal."

The Sunderland players took much longer to return.

Simms and Diallo were still grinning as they jogged back to their half, enjoying every whistle and groan from the home stands.

Even the referee waited for them with a hint of impatience, pointing toward the centre circle to hurry them along.

"There’s a lot to admire in that counter," the co-commentator and analyst said.

"But Wigan handed them the platform. You can’t send that many bodies up without covering the second ball. Lang’s cross puts them in trouble straight away because everyone’s already committed, and they don’t track back faster because they thought that the ball was going out."

"Diallo’s decision-making is what makes it lethal. Every touch pulls a defender the wrong way. He slows McLean down, drags Tilt out, then lets the ball run for Simms. It’s smooth from start to finish."

"And Wigan’s recovery is too slow," the analyst continued. "The midfield never got back in time to help. If you lose your shape against players like Diallo, this is what happens."

Down on the pitch, the referee placed himself near the halfway line, waiting for the all-clear.

The home fans weren’t shouting yet, but annoyance and a hint of frustration simmered across the stands.

Will Keane stood over the ball with Lang beside him as the two exchanged a small look before the official sent the game running again.

Wigan tried to shake off the frustration the moment the ball settled back into play.

The crowd pushed them forward with a steady roar, and for a few minutes, it felt like sheer energy alone might drag them level.

They moved the ball quickly from flank to flank, trying to stretch Sunderland’s shape.

Max Power pushed up from midfield, clipping passes into the pockets for Lang and Aasgaard to chase.

Each time the fans rose with hope, only for Sunderland’s defenders to step in at the right moment and shut the door.

"Wigan asking the question again," the commentator said. "They’re forcing the issue, but Sunderland look very comfortable dealing with these early patterns."

His partner added quietly, "Every time Wigan commit bodies, Sunderland look ready to spring forward. That’s the real danger."

The warning proved right.

Around the twenty-fifth minute, Wigan lost the ball on the edge of the final third, and Sunderland broke in a straight line.

Their other winger, Abdoullah Ba, tore down the left, driving into open grass, and the entire stadium winced as the counter unfolded.

Dawson was shouting before the pass was even made, sprinting toward the technical area.

"Track him! Don’t stop!" he yelled, hands cutting through the air, and Darikwa recovered just in time to poke the ball away in the box, saving what felt like a certain second goal, and the sighs around the ground were almost a collective collapse.

"Wigan are living dangerously," the analyst said.

"They’re so eager to get back into this match that they’re leaving far too much space behind the ball. Sunderland don’t need many chances to punish that."

Wigan kept pushing anyway, this time more directly as a long diagonal from Mclean dropped for Lang near the right corner of the box.

He brought it down cleanly, stepped inside, and looked set to hit it, but a Sunderland defender got a toe to the ball.

The loose rebound fell to Broadhead, who struck first time, but it fizzed wide of the post, brushing the side netting.

Another wave of groans mixed with applause reigned in the stadium as the Wigan fans expressed a strange mix of hope and impatience.

"Another half-chance," the commentator said. "Wigan are getting into the right places but still searching for that cutting edge."

Minutes later, Sunderland countered again.

This one was even sharper than the last as a first-time pass took out two Wigan midfielders, and suddenly, Sunderland were running three against two.

Dawson turned to his bench in frustration.

"Not again," he muttered.

But luck swung their way this time as the final pass into the striker came too heavy, and the ball rolled through to the keeper.

Shortly after, Dawson cupped his hands around his mouth and barked at his midfield.

"Stop forcing it. Play what’s in front of you. Don’t leave yourselves wide open."

The shift was immediate as Wigan’s tempo slowed.

Their lines tightened, causing the game to lose its frantic pulse and settle into something more calculated.

Sunderland didn’t mind that, though.

They sat in shape, inviting Wigan to try and break them down, while Wigan tried to avoid getting caught the same way again.

For long spells, neither side created more than half-chances.

The ball moved, players pressed, but nothing truly opened up.

The crowd grew quieter, waiting for something to shake the half awake again.

Five minutes before halftime, Wigan worked their best move since the goal.

Tom Naylore drifted inside and slid a clever reverse pass into Will Kean, who managed to turn and shoot on the swivel.

The keeper saved it comfortably, but at least it was clean.

"That’s more like it," Dawson said under his breath.

After the five minutes were over, the referee checked his watch and finally raised the whistle.

The blast cut through the stadium and brought a mix of relief and annoyance as a wave of applause rained down on both sides.

"That’s the end of the first half," the commentator said. "Sunderland go in with the lead. Wigan have shown intent but not enough precision, and they’ll know it."

The players jogged off, most of them shaking their heads or muttering to themselves.

Dawson walked into the tunnel, arms crossed, already thinking about what needed fixing.

It hadn’t been disastrous. But it hadn’t been good enough either.