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Wigan defeated Everton 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Henri Camera that secured a first win over the Merseyside club at the JJB Stadium and only their second at home this season.

The victory takes Wigan out of the bottom three and deals a blow to Everton's European aspirations as they lie three points behind sixth-placed Hull City.

Camara had only just replaced Olivier Kapo at half-time when he was found unmarked by Antonio Valencia and the Senegal striker made no mistake with a simple finish.

Australia midfielder Tim Cahill left the pitch with his head in his hands after he spurned a gilt-edged chance to claim a point for Everton.

Cahill is normally the prime candidate to score dramatic late goals but he could only fire over the bar from close range when the Latics failed to clear an aerial ball in injury time.

While the high ball almost proved a late saviour to David Moyes, its use by his Toffees side meant that they rarely threatened and were outplayed as well as outmuscled by a Wigan side that lined up with five in midfield.

Free-scoring Egypt striker Amr Zaki was again absent with a calf injury, and Emile Heskey led Wigan's line in typically bustling style.

Supported by Valencia and the excellent Lee Cattermole, the England striker caused Everton's athletic backline all kinds of problems but really needed the support of Camara, who came on for the relatively ineffectual Olivier Kapo.

Until the latter stages of the first half, it was a tepid encounter although Louis Saha and Cahill had good chances for Everton while Maynor Figueroa and Paul Scharner missed clear-cut opportunities for the hosts.

On 34 minutes Wilson Palacios spurned another for Wigan when he somehow headed over the bar from six yards when Kapo fed him the ball after Heskey knocked down a superb crossfield pass from Brown.

The miss seemed to spark Wigan into action, and they dominated the rest of the match and should have gone into half time ahead.

First Cattermole forced a smart stop from Tim Howard after he beat four men and fired in a low drive. But the save of the game and possibly the season came from the corner that followed, when Howard somehow kept out a point-blank Scharner header with a one-handed flying stop.

It was the last action of the first half but, instead of waking Everton from their slumber, it showed Steve Bruce that his side could get all three points.

Camara came on and within four minutes they finished a counter-attacking move started by the impressive Brown, who made his first start of the season and initially found Valencia with a raking diagonal pass.

The rest of the match saw Everton create chances through Ayegbeni Yakubu and - 18 minutes before his horror-miss - Cahill but they were denied by Chris Kirkland and Scharner respectively.

Wigan could have extended their lead but Phil Jagielka was brave to deny Heskey and, later on, Howard saved from Valencia.

But despite their relative dominance, Wigan were spared heartbreak by the profligacy of Cahill who, after Wigan were uncharacteristically caught out by a high ball, was favoured by a kind ricochet yet could only smash the ball into the stands with Kirkland stranded.

Reda Maher / Eurosport