Swansea City 2-2 Wigan Athletic: Late Joel Piroe penalty sees Swans fight back for a point

Ryan Manning celebrates his third goal of the season

Swansea City fought back from 2-0 down to claim a point and deny struggling Wigan Athletic a much-needed victory.

The Latics took control of the contest thanks to early headers from Will Keane and Tom Naylor.

But Ryan Manning's classy finish gave Swansea hope just before half-time and they salvaged a draw thanks to Joel Piroe's late penalty.

Swansea drop to ninth despite the fightback, while Wigan remain in the relegation zone.

Leam Richardson's side halted a five-game losing streak, but will be frustrated not to have taken all three points having stunned Swansea in the early stages.

The Welsh club were short of their best, but continued their impressive record of coming from behind to take points this season - they now have 12, most in the Championship - thanks to a battling performance.

Swansea have been formidable on their own patch in recent times, winning five of their previous six games at the Swansea.com Stadium before this, while Wigan have stumbled whether at home or on their travels.

But then this is the Championship, where the unexpected is to be expected.

The story of the game might have been different had Armstrong Oko-Flex taken the first chance of the day, but having cut in sharply from the right flank, he pulled his shot a yard wide.

Wigan's first opportunity came at the end of a swift counter, with Steven Benda pushing Nathan Broadhead's drive around the post.

The James McClean corner which followed brought the opening goal, with Keane getting in between Swansea defenders to head home his seventh of the season from close range.

Eight minutes later, from another McClean corner, Swansea were undone once more.

This time Naylor found space at the near post to flick a header into the far corner.

Wigan were in dreamland, Swansea in shock.

The home crowd grew increasingly agitated as the first half wore on - but their team hauled themselves back into the contest when Wigan failed to clear and Manning curled home delightfully from 20 yards.

Wigan's players celebrate after Tom Naylor (centre) put them 2-0 ahead

The equaliser might have come in the opening seconds of the second half, but Piroe's 20-yard snapshot was pushed to safety by Jamie Jones.

Wigan then kept Swansea at arm's length for a long spell, with Martin's side labouring as they searched for some attacking sparkle.

Swansea's moment almost arrived when Kyle Naughton crossed and Ollie Cooper flicked wide of the far post.

A minute later Naughton came again, combining neatly with fellow substitute Jamie Paterson before being caught by Jason Kerr as the Wigan defender attempted to clear.

Referee Craig Pawson pointed to the spot and Piroe made no mistake, drilling the ball low into the bottom right corner.

Swansea had the best opportunity to win it, when Paterson steadied himself in the box but saw his shot blocked, though defeat would have been cruel on Wigan.

Swansea head coach Russell Martin:

"We shot ourselves in the foot again with the two set-piece goals, but it takes a big courage to come back in the way the players did.

"We should have won the game. I don't think anyone can disagree with that - it was such a dominant performance.

"I think you have to appreciate how difficult it is when you go 2-0 down to then avoid it becoming a game of basketball and going 3-0 down.

"We are all frustrated. We concede too many poor goals at the moment. But we should still win.

"We are so close to being the team everyone wants us to be - the fans, us, the players. We have lost two games in 10, we are very competitive at this level. But we want to be more than competitive - we want to really affect the league."

Wigan manager Leam Richardson:

"We have to say it's a decent point overall, coming off the back of a few losses - whether we deserved them or not - finishing late on Wednesday and then travelling to a very challenging football club.

"That shows the relentlessness of the Championship.

"I thought first half we were well worthy of the scoreline. I was disappointed with their first goal because it comes so close to half-time.

"But on reflection, we have a point, we shake hands and move on."