Substitute Ben Watson scored an injury-time winner to give Wigan
Athletic a sensational 1-0 win over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium
on Saturday in the biggest FA Cup final upset in 25 years.
With extra time beckoning, Watson met a Shaun Maloney corner with a near-post header to stun 2011 cup winners City and give Wigan the first major trophy in their 81-year history.
Victory represented a fairytale moment for the modest northwest club and their chairman, Dave Whelan, who punched the air with delight at the final whistle, after a shock that stands comparison with Wimbledon’s 1988 success over Liverpool.
He had earlier led the team onto the pitch, having broken his leg while playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup final in an incident that ended his top-level football career.
Beneath driving rain, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez celebrated with his players on the pitch, as the Latics temporarily forgot their perilous fate in the Premier League, where they are on the brink of relegation.
Watson’s goal completed a miserable season for City and their manager, Roberto Mancini, who awoke on Saturday to media reports that he is about to be replaced by Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini.
League champions last year, City will finish the season without a trophy after being burnt off by Manchester United in the league and crashing out of the Champions League in the group phase.
City were overwhelming pre-game favourites but Mancini showed how
seriously he was taking the game by starting with Joe Hart in goal,
despite having previously vowed to persevere with deputy Costel
Pantilimon.
Wigan welcomed back Antolin Alcaraz following a hamstring problem, but Maynor Figueroa, Ivan Ramis, Ronnie Stam and Jean Beausejour all missed out out through injury.
True to expectations, City started on the front foot, with Wigan goalkeeper Joel Robles forced to parry a dipping Yaya Toure half-volley in the fourth minute after Carlos Tevez hit the wall with a free-kick.
Wigan refused to be cowed, however, and City soon found themselves on the back foot.
With extra time beckoning, Watson met a Shaun Maloney corner with a near-post header to stun 2011 cup winners City and give Wigan the first major trophy in their 81-year history.
Victory represented a fairytale moment for the modest northwest club and their chairman, Dave Whelan, who punched the air with delight at the final whistle, after a shock that stands comparison with Wimbledon’s 1988 success over Liverpool.
He had earlier led the team onto the pitch, having broken his leg while playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup final in an incident that ended his top-level football career.
Beneath driving rain, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez celebrated with his players on the pitch, as the Latics temporarily forgot their perilous fate in the Premier League, where they are on the brink of relegation.
Watson’s goal completed a miserable season for City and their manager, Roberto Mancini, who awoke on Saturday to media reports that he is about to be replaced by Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini.
League champions last year, City will finish the season without a trophy after being burnt off by Manchester United in the league and crashing out of the Champions League in the group phase.
Manchester
City’s Serbian defender Matija Nastasic (C) reacts at the end of the
English FA Cup final football match between Manchester City and Wigan
Athletic at Wembley Stadium in London on May 11, 2013.Photo: AFP
Wigan welcomed back Antolin Alcaraz following a hamstring problem, but Maynor Figueroa, Ivan Ramis, Ronnie Stam and Jean Beausejour all missed out out through injury.
True to expectations, City started on the front foot, with Wigan goalkeeper Joel Robles forced to parry a dipping Yaya Toure half-volley in the fourth minute after Carlos Tevez hit the wall with a free-kick.
Wigan refused to be cowed, however, and City soon found themselves on the back foot.
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