Wigan Athletic won their first ever FA Cup and their first trophy in fifteen years as they defeated Manchester City 1-0 in an absolutely fantastic FA Cup final.
It didn’t take long for the first piece of action as Manchester City had a chance early on when they were given a free-kick due to Sergio Aguero being bundled down on the edge of the box. The blocked effort fell to Yaya Toure who fired his shot straight at Wigan’s on-loan keeper Joel. A few minutes later, Wigan Athletic had a chance themselves when Arouna Kone found Callum McManaman in plenty of space but he spent too much time on the ball, allowing Matija Nastasic to apply pressure, and the young midfielder failed to bend his shot into the net. Just before the half an hour mark and another great chance for City, with Carlos Tevez’s stretched shot forcing Joel to make a superb save with his legs, keeping the scores level. Shortly after, Wigan had a penalty shout up at the other end of the pitch when Roger Espinoza fell in the box after a slightly clumsy challenge by Pablo Zabaleta but referee Andre Marriner let play continue. McManaman looked very lively again when he latched onto a brilliant through ball, preceding to twist and turn trying to find an angle for the shot but when he eventually did shoot it ricocheted off of a Manchester City defender. Just before half time, Samir Nasri fired a stinging shot towards goal but Joel looked comfortable in pulling off the save. Marriner soon blew his whistle to end the half and what an action-packed half it was, perfect for an FA Cup final!
Manchester City started brightly in the second half and when Kone gave the ball away, Aguero only just failed to turn the ball inside the near post from a Carlos Tevez cross. Another penalty shout, but this time for City when Aguero looked like he was pulled down by Paul Scharner, but again, Andre Marriner waved play on. On the 75th minute, Wigan were given a free-kick Shaun Maloney, who looked like he was trying to find a man at the back post, hit the Manchester City crossbar with his ball into the box. The free-kick was given for a foul on Callum McManaman who was absolutely running the show for Wigan, making Gael Clichy look very average with a fantastic performance. Around 8 minutes later, Pablo Zabaleta brought down Mcmanaman, who he had fouled previously and received a yellow card, as he was bearing down on goal and Marriner gave him his second yellow, sending him off the field of play. Could Wigan capitalise on this and snatch the game in the final ten minutes? The answer was yes! A corner given following another penalty claim by Wigan was taken by Maloney and substitute Ben Watson got across Jack Rodwell and glanced a header past Joe Hart in the first minute of extra time and the Wigan faithful went wild. Wigan were 1-0 up…against Manchester City…in the FA Cup final! The Latics held on for the remaining three minutes and were rewarded for all of their hard work when the final whistle was blown. The magic of the cup…most definitely still alive!
