Charlton lost their 100% home record to a physical and athletic Wigan team at The Valley on Tuesday evening.
The Latics squeezed the Addicks in the first half – never allowing them to play – then went up a gear after the interval to record a comfortable win.
Karl Robinson fielded an unchanged starting XI, but fit again Karlan Ahearne-Grant replaced Reeco Hackett-Fairchild on the bench.
Wigan restored Will Grigg to their starting line-up, and former Charlton academy graduate, Terell Thomas, was amongst the Latics’ substitutes.
Gavin Massey, Michael Jacobs and Nick Powell all had had chances to put Wigan ahead, while Jake Forster-Caskey went closest for the Addicks.
The former Brighton man hit the bar on the half-hour mark, and Josh Magennis headed the rebound wide.
The visitors took the lead a minute before the break when Massey turned in a hard, low, driven cross from the left.
Charlton were penned back in the early minutes of the second period and the Latics had three corners in quick succession.
Massey extended Wigan’s lead after 70 minutes, finishing a neat move down the right with a shot into the far corner of Ben Amos’ goal.
Sam Morsy completed the scoring three minutes from time. The Addicks failed to clear their lines, and Morsy was on hand to tuck the ball away.
The visitors are a strong side, and will take a lot of stopping in this league.
Another disappointment was Ricky Holmes picking up his fourth yellow card of the season, he is now just one booking away from a ban.
Robinson will work hard to lift the spirits of his squad, and have them back on course for Saturday’s trip to Gillingham.
Here is what the manager had to say after the game:
“I lost my battle with their manager and every one of my players lost their battles with their players and it was as simple as that tonight.
“We tried to play a little bit of a different way second half and play direct to Josh, but we didn’t win enough second balls. We lost all of our individual battles.
“We have to apologise because it wasn’t good enough. We’ve had a bad night against one of the best attacking teams in the league.
“Sometimes you have a bad night against other teams but you find a way of winning. That’s as good as you’ll come up against in League One.
“We gave them too much space and showed them too much respect and we’ve been beaten by the better team.
“The fans stuck with us right until the end and even clapped the players off at the end of the game, so I have to apologise to them because I feel like it’s my fault,” said Robinson.
Charlton: Amos; Solly, Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva; Kashi (Konsa, 68), Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Ahearne-Grant, 68), Clarke (Dodoo, 74), Holmes; Magennis.
Subs (not used): Phillips, Jackson, Aribo, Sarr.
Booked: Holmes 53 (foul), Forster-Caskey 75 (foul), Solly 90 (foul).
Wigan Athletic: Jones; Byrne, Bruce, Burn, James; Massey, Evans, Jacobs (Elder 90), Morsy; Grigg (Power 78), Powell (Toney 74).
Subs (not used): Sarkic, Perkins, Roberts, Thomas.
Goals: Massey (44, 70), Morsy (87).
Booked: Morsy 51 (foul), Bruce 64 (foul), Toney 81 (timewasting) .
Referee: Charles Breakspear (Surrey).
Attn: 10,172 (239 Wigan).