It had already been a Christmas to forget so far for both Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic.
Having been at Stamford Bridge last Saturday, the Villans endured another heavy defeat on boxing day when they went down 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park.
Roberto Martinez and Wigan Athletic were left hard done by last weekend after their 1-0 loss to Arsenal at the DW Stadium, where the Latics chief felt that his side were unfortunate with several refereeing decisions.
Wigan then ended up on the losing end of a 2-1 fixture at Everton on Wednesday, but had only lost once in their last seven visits to Villa Park going into today's match.
However, goals from Ivan Ramis, Emmerson Boyce and Arouna Kone extended Villa's dreadful run, and moved the Latics out of the bottom three.
Read how it all unfolded in our minute-by minute live commentary below.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of Aston Villa versus Wigan Athletic in the Premier League.
Both sides have endured a Christmas to forget over the past few weeks but will see today as a real opportunity to earn a vital win.
Team news on the way...
Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Clark, Bennett, Holman, Herd, Lichaj, Weimann, Bannan, Ireland, Benteke.
Wigan Athletic: Al Habsi, Caldwell, Boyce, Ramis, Figueroa, Beausejour, Maloney, Jones, McCarthy, Di Santo, Kone.
So there are the starting lineups, here are the substitutes benches...
Villa SUBS: Given, El Ahmadi, Albrighton, Westwood, Bowery, Stevens, Carruthers.
Wigan SUBS: Politt, Gomez, McManaman, McArthur, Boselli, Stam, Golbart.
So this is a must win for both sides here. What are your predictions? Tweet me at @FindingCotton. I'm going for a 1-1 draw.
The teams are making their way out onto the field here at Villa Park.
Both sides are doing huddles inside their own halves.
Kevin Friend is the referee here at Villa Park.
And we're underway...
It looks as if Villa have gone for a back five, baring in mind that they have conceded 12 goals in their last two games!
I'm not 100% certain of either formation, but neither side are playing a 4-4-2.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Wigan Athletic (Ivan Ramis)
It's an awesome start for Wigan but terrible defending from Villa. The Latics float in a corner and an unmarked Ivan Ramis is on hand to nod Wigan ahead.
That is exactly what Villa did not need. How do they respond now?
CHANCE! Villa respond with a chance for Andreas Weimann, who took up a good position before shooting from the left of the penalty area across goal, but it was easily held by Ali Al-Habsi.
Villa doing their best to try and calm the game down by holding on to the ball. Not doing a great job of it so far.
Wigan feel that they should have been awarded a penalty after Shaun Maloney went down in the box under the challenge Stephen Ireland, but nothing was given.
Wigan have another corner.
Guzan caught flapping from the Maloney corner. Should have been easy for the American, but he can't get his hands on it but, luckily for him, gets away with it.
Already in this match, Jean Beausejour has had so much room out on the left, and has been putting in some telling crosses.
CHANCE! Weimann has a goal at goal for Villa from 25 yards out but can only watch as hit shot flies wide of the target. Villa seem really lacking in confidence here.
Wigan have dominated possession so far and are playing some good football with sharp passing moves.
The traditional 19th minute applause for Stiliyan Petrov cascades around Villa Park. How the hosts could do with him at the moment.
CHANCE! Wigan again go on the attack as Boyce bombs down the right before delivering a ball to the left touchline, Beausejour squares the ball to Maloney on the edge of the box, but he drills his effort over the bar against his old club.
Half-hearted appeals from Villa for a penalty, not sure what for though. They need a stroke of luck or something in the form of that to spark them into life.
The Villa Park crowd is evidently growing frustrated as Wigan again claim possession with the greatest of ease.
Villa have scored just once in their last four home games, but they don't look like getting a shot on target at the moment.
Wigan break down the left once again with Beausejour, but his cross goes behind and out of play for a goal kick.
Franco Di Santo gets flattened by the boot of Chris Herd to win a free kick. To be fair to Herd, Di Santo ducked into the tackle before getting a kick to the head.
CHANCE! Ireland is easily dispossessed by James McCarthy who plays in Di Santo, but the striker puts his shot into the side netting.
Good play from Villa who win a corner, better from the hosts.
Joe Bennett runs from the halfway line and weaves his way through a number of challenges before being fouled. Benteke picks up the loose ball but blasts it into the Wigan defence.
First decent spell from Villa in this match. Camped in the Wigan half at the moment.
Wigan break and have a four on four in the Villa half. Beausejour's cross is poor though and cleared away by Eric Lichaj.
The weather at Villa Park this afternoon is atrocious. It's chucking it down in Birmingham and the wind is also troubling the players.
CHANCE! Benteke opts to go alone as he tricks his way from the left into the penalty area. He cuts the ball onto his right foot but his effort is blocked. Villa starting to get on top now.
Villa have the ball in the net but the offside flag is raised. A nice spell of possession on the edge of the box from Villa eventually leads to a pass into Andreas Weimann, who is stood in an offside position, Benteke slots home his lay-off but the flag is already up.
YELLOW CARD Emerson Boyce is the first man of the match to go into the book for dissent.
It's been all Villa for the past 15 minutes. Wigan barely been out of their own half. Villa need to make the most of this good spell.
Villa are just missing that last pass. Good work from Lichaj who works his way down the right before giving the ball straight to Maynor Figueroa, much to the annoyance of the Villa Park crowd.
YELLOW CARD Shaun Maloney is shown a yellow after he sends Joe Bennett flying with a late challenge. Second booking for Wigan.
OFF THE BAR Villa come inches away from a leveller just before the break. A ball into the box is brilliantly nodded down by Benteke, who is proving to be a real thorn in the Wigan backline, and Brett Holman meets the ball with his left foot from an acute angle but can only many to put his effort against the bar.
One minute of added time here.
HALF TIME Aston Villa 0-1 Wigan Athletic
So after an awful start, it is actually Aston Villa who have probably just shaded the first half but go into the break behind after that early Ivan Ramis goal.
Wigan were comfortable for the opening 20 minutes of the game and, after quickly going ahead, looked the more likely side to grab another goal. However, Villa found a spark and dictated play up until the half-time whistle. Benteke had the ball in the net, Holman hit the bar, but they trail 1-0 going into the break at Villa Park.
Click HERE for Barney Corkhill's half-time report.
So what are your thoughts at the break? Tweet me at @FindingCotton on Twitter.
The teams are back out here at Villa Park.
We're back off here at Villa Park. 1-0 Wigan, all to do for Villa.
CHANCE! Villa have the first chance of the half as Lichaj cuts in from the right and curls a ball to the far post towards Benteke but his header is over.
Villa have made the strongest start to this second half, just the one chance so far though from Benteke.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-2 Wigan Athletic (Emmerson Boyce)
It's a great goal from Emmerson Boyce, and against the run of play, Wigan have doubled their lead. Boyce held off three Villa players before playing a one-two with Kone on his way to slotting the ball into the far corner from the edge of the box.
They had a lot of the ball, but Villa did not take their chances. It's a real uphill task for the home side now.
CHANCE! Arouna Kone has the ball on the edge of the Villa box, before shifting to his right and firing a weak shot at Guzan. Kone shouldn't have been allowed to get the shot away, poor defending from Villa.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-3 Wigan Athletic (Arouna Kone)
Things are going from bad to worse for Aston Villa. The ball breaks to Kone in the box, who slides past the onrushing Guzan before slotting the ball into the back of the net from an acute angle.
The most worrying part for Villa is that there is still 30 minutes to go. Three goals down, and with Wigan also denied two clear penalties, Villa are in big big trouble.
Villa are waiting to make a substitution, as Chris Herd goes down in some pain after making a challenge.
Looks as if Lambert is going to make a triple change.
Chris Herd is now back on the field.
Wigan fans cheering everyone pass that their team makes. This is embarrassing for Villa.
SUBSTITUTIONS Paul Lambert makes a triple change as Stephen Ireland, Brett Holman and Eric Lichaj make way for Marc Albrighton, Karim El Ahmadi and Jordan Bowery.
Lambert plays all his cards at once as he goes all out with his changes.
SUBSTITUTION Roberto Martinez makes a change as he brings on James McArthur in place of David Jones.
Chris Herd fouls Franco Di Santo right on the edge of the box. Real chance from this free kick for Wigan.
It's finally taken, and Maloney slams it straight into the Villa wall.
Villa put Wigan under pressure, but the Latics can scramble it away.
33,374 has been given as the attendance for today's match.
Wonder how many of those fans will turn up for their next home match against Ipswich Town in the FA Cup next month.
Villa have had most of the ball since that Kone goal, but haven't really troubled the Latics.
Wigan look more than likely to earn their first win in eight games.
SUBSTITUTION Wigan make another change as Jordi Gomez comes on for Jean Beausejour.
YELLOW CARD Matthew Lowton picks up a yellow card after he sends Figueroa flying with a late challenge.
Light spot of handbags as Marc Albrighton isn't happy that Franco Di Santo is making such a meal of a collision between the two. The former pushes the Latics man while in a sitting position on the floor.
Kone is clean through but is flagged offside.
CHANCE! Weimann takes a shot from the right for Villa, but the angle was always against him, and he drags it across the face of goal.
Wigan fans chant 'Is there a fire drill' as Villa supporters flood out of Villa Park.
SUBSTITUTION Wigan make their third and final change as Arouna Kone makes way for Callum McManaman.
The game is really dying down now here, just waiting for the final whistle.
The 90 minutes is up, and there are three minutes of added time to play.
CHANCE! Some neat play from Wigan ends with Di Santo trying to get his shot away at the Villa goal. He eventually does from the edge of the six-yard box but Guzan is equal to the effort with his feet.
Villa desperately trying everything to get on the scoresheet.
Weimann's attempt of an overhead kick goes out for a goal kick, and that should be that at Villa Park.
FULL TIME Aston Villa 0-3 Wigan Athletic
So that's it, and Wigan move above Villa and out of the relegation zone following this convincing win.
Despite their awful start, Villa were actually the better side from about the 20-minute mark until the early stages of the second half, but then Wigan showed them how to take their chances to seal the win.
So that's 15 goals against, 0 scored in their last three games for Aston Villa as their dreadful run continues. Goals from Ivan Ramis, Emmerson Boyce and Arouna Kone means that Wigan take all three points from Villa Park.
So that's it for today's action from Villa Park. Thank you for joining me, I'll see you next time.
Written by
Matt Cotton
Matt Cotton
