Wigan ease past Notts County

Wigan 4 Notts County 0

Henri Camara breathed life into his faltering Wigan career with his first goals in 20 months to help the Latics ease past Notts County and into the Carling Cup third round.

The Senegal international striker, 31, spent the whole of last season on loan at West Ham but failed to score a single goal in a nightmare campaign.

He returned to the JJB Stadium in the summer and told he was welcome to stay and fight for his place by Latics boss Steve Bruce.

Camara took full advantage of his first start of the season by netting with a superb 32nd-minute opener to shatter the resistance of spirited but limited League Two opposition.

He scored again with a clinical header in the 62nd minute – two minutes after substitute Amr Zaki had made the game safe with a close-range tap-in.

Substitute Tomasz Kupisz added a fourth in the last minute and Wigan could even afford to play out the closing stages with 10 men due to injuries and having already made three substitutions.

It has to be remembered this was Notts County in the Carling Cup but Camara led the line with aplomb throughout in a Wigan side who struggled so badly for goals in his absence last season that only bottom club Derby scored less.

Camara was not alone in capitalising on his opportunity.

Daniel De Ridder, Michael Brown and Kevin Kilbane also made their mark as Bruce made six changes from the side which lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea on Sunday.

The visitors’ goal line led a charmed existence from the outset and it was Wigan’s fringe players who were keenest to make their mark.

In the fifth minute midfielder Brown collected possession some 25 yards from goal and showed delightful footwork and no little pace to glide past a clutch of stranded Magpies defenders and reach the left-hand byline.

His deep cross was cleared but a minute later an astute lay-off from Camara gave De Ridder the chance to strike a low shot into Russell Hoult’s midriff.

Camara was as eager as anyone to make an impression and in the 10th minute he released Kilbane with an astute pass down the left flank.

The former Everton man advanced forward into the visitors’ 18-yard box but his disappointing low shot whistled well wide of Hoult’s far post.

Camara’s menace surfaced again in the 17th minute when he expertly played in Antonio Valencia, but his low strike was blocked.

Less than 60 seconds later De Ridder again warmed Hoult’s hands from distance but that was nothing compared to the save that denied Camara in the 28th minute.

Kilbane’s cultured pass sent Camara scampering clear deep in Magpies territory and he cut inside a visiting defender before unleashing a fierce shot from 12 yards which forced Hoult into a fine parried save.

Yet Hoult was powerless to prevent Camara opening the scoring with a strike that so typified his desire to almost single-handedly take the game by the scruff of the neck.

He collected a pass from left-back Maynor Figueroa on the edge of the 18-yard box and rifled a low shot past Hoult and into the bottom corner.

It was his first goal at club level since he found the net for Wigan in a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough on December 9, 2006.

Wigan made the game safe on the hour mark when half-time substitute Zaki set the willing Kilbane free down the left flank and raced into the box.

Zaki timed his run to perfection to greet Kilbane’s low delivery with a cool sidefooted finish which flew into the net from six yards.

Less than a minute later and the game was made safe thanks to Camara, who defied appeals for offside from the statuesque visiting defenders and nodded a Zaki cross firmly past Hoult with a dividing header from 10 yards.

Wigan continued to press but they could not add to their tally until the last minute when Kupisz produced a neat finish to make the scoreline more reflective of their dominance.