It might just have been different with Fulham furious about having two penalty appeals rejected by referee Andre Marriner, a late replacement for Barry Knight. And the Wigan goalkeeper John Filan was fortunate not to be sent off in the first half.
Wigan's cause was not helped by a chronic shortage of strikers with both Jason Roberts (thigh) and David Connolly (hamstring) ruled out. Record signing Henri Camara was back to operate alone up front.
Fulham - boosted by the return of Tomasz Radzinski - were looking for their first win at Wigan in five visits. But they made a confident start and could have been two up inside five minutes.
The visitors showed their attacking intent when ex-Everton star Radzinski hammered a low shot just wide from a neat flick by Collins John.
Then Wigan were caught out by a quick throw-in as Steed Malbranque raced into the area, worked a neat one-two with Claus Jenson but drilled his shot wide of the right post.
The Cottagers enjoyed a lot of success on the right flank, and Moritz Volz caused more problems, forcing Stephane Henchoz into a hurried clearance.
But Wigan carved out an excellent opening on 14 minutes, Camara turning Alain Goma inside out before picking out Ryan Taylor with a cross. The ex-Tranmere man got his head to it, but Damien Francis was a second too late arriving at the back post to turn it in.
The Latics survived when Malbranque cashed in on a slip by Leighton Baines to get set John away. The Dutch youngster went down in the box under pressure from Arjan de Zeeuw but Marriner was on the spot to rule out a penalty, despite strong protests.
The hosts had another anxious moment when Papa Bouba Diop put a header over the bar after Filan was caught out by a free-kick.
It was far from one-way traffic, with Alan Mahon blasting wide at the other end.
There was more controversy when John's pace took him clear of veteran defender Henchoz, and Filan flew out of his area. The ball struck the big Aussie's knee before he appeared to handle but the referee waved play on, much to the consternation of Fulham boss Chris Coleman.
Coleman was again unimpressed when Volz went down just inside the box - only to earn a booking for diving and not a spot-kick, despite Mahon's involvement in the tackle.
Wigan sent on Andreas Johansson to provide more support for Camara after the break and he was quickly into the action heading wide at the back post.
The Latics also had a penalty shout turned down when the ball struck Niclas Jenson on the arm, before they almost broke the deadlock two minutes from time when Camara went past Carlos Bocanegra and rounded the keeper, but fired tamely into the side-netting.
Then in injury-time, the hosts snatched it when Chimbonda arrived at the far post to head home Graham Kavanagh's free-kick - his first goal for the Latics.
Man of the Match: Steed Malbranque.
A typical performance from Fulham's midfield playmaker, who combined guile and tenacity to keep driving his side forward.