Memory Match: Manchester City v Wigan, 29 March 2010

Tuesday’s Memory Match recalls a heated Lancashire derby. A stubborn Wigan side thwarted Manchester City for the majority of the game until Carlos Tevez took matters into his own hands…

Manchester City 3 Wigan 0

Manchester City’s record against Wigan was surprisingly poor in 2010. In their previous nine encounters between the two sides, City had only managed to win once and it looked like the Latics would come away from the Etihad with a point in the bank.

In the first half the hosts took the initiative early on, with chances falling for Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez, but Vladimir Stojković, who started in goal instead of the injured Chris Kirkland, kept City at bay, much to they dismay for the home crowd, who booed their side off the pitch.

The decisive moment came in the second half Wigan were reduced to ten men as defender Gary Caldwell saw red for his two-footed challenge on Tevez.

Luckily for City, the Argentinian wizard avoided injury, and on 72 minutes he took advantage of a huge goalkeeping error from Stojkovic to tap home. Just two minutes later Tevez scored his second as he slid in at the far post, and he sealed the victory for his side with a super solo effort six minutes from full-time.

Teams

Manchester City: Given, Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, Vieira, De Jong, Johnson, Adebayor, Tevez.

Wigan: Stojkovic, Melchiot, Caldwell, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Thomas, McCarthy, Diame, Moreno, Rodallega.

What they said

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini:
“It was an important win. It wasn’t easy because Wigan played good football and it was especially difficult in the first half.

“We improved in the second half and then after the sending off it was too easy. The red card changed the game.

“Carlos is a fantastic striker and I hope he continues like this in the run-in. If we fight like we did in the second half, we will probably finish fourth.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez:
“The (sending off) decision was a key moment in the game and until that moment we were coping really well with everything Man City had.

“I felt we were growing into the game, we had a couple of opportunities and felt that the last half an hour was going to be crucial.

“That decision was a key moment. It really cost us and the game went away from us. To give a red for that, as a referee you need to be very sure. You can’t guess with a decision like that and it is a turning point.”