Joe Hugill gets off the mark for Wigan Athletic in cup loss

Manchester United striker Joe Hugill scored his first goal for Wigan Athletic in a 1-2 defeat to Morecambe in the Football League Trophy last night.

The English striker endured a difficult loan spell last season at Burton Albion when he only scored one goal in 18 matches for the League One side.

The Durham born striker did get on the scoresheet against Glasgow Rangers during pre-season for the Red Devils and shortly after secured a loan deal to Wigan Athletic in the third tier of English football.

He has struggled to make much impact so far at his new club but this changed on Tuesday night after finding the net in his fifth game.

The Latics suffered a shock home loss to a side who are bottom of League Two, having 15 shots on goal to Morecambe’s six. They also dominated the ball having 81% but conceded the opening goal after only 12 minutes.

Hugill started the game on the bench but was introduced on the 52nd minute and made an instant impact as he was played through on goal but could not lift his shot over the onrushing Morecambe keeper, and the ball trickled out for a corner.

The United man’s big moment arrived in the 63rd minute when his side were awarded a penalty and he stepped up to rifle a well taken shot into the bottom right hand corner, leaving the keeper with no chance.

It was his first goal for Wigan and he will hope to carry on the goalscoring momentum in a way he could not last season at Burton.

Hugill was given a rating of 6.8 on Sofascore for his night’s work.

He had two shots on target and missed the aforementioned big chance as well as converting the penalty.

He only had eight touches of the ball and completed 75% of his passes during the match.

Failure to get on the ball much was an issue for him last year at Burton, as he was often isolated up top and this is something he will aim to improve on over the course of this season.

He won two out of his five aerial duels and lost his only ground duel.

The 20 year old will hope his goal has done enough to earn him a starting spot when Wigan travel to Bristol Rovers on Saturday 14th September after the international break.

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