City dominated against the spirited League One side but simply couldn’t score, with Will Grigg’s winner ensuring a famous night for the Latics.
ESPN’s Jonathan Smith summed up the feeling of shock many felt with his post-match analysis, describing the result as “incredible”.
“Manchester City’s hopes of winning the quadruple have incredibly been ended by League One side Wigan Athletic, as Will Grigg stunned the visitors with a brilliant 79th-minute low drive that beat the outstretched hand of Claudio Bravo,” he writes.
“City had lost just once against English opposition all season: the 4-3 defeat at title rivals Liverpool. But no-one gave Wigan, second in League One and more focused on securing promotion back to the Championship, much of a chance. However, they had a real opportunity for a shock when City were reduced to 10 men as Fabian Delph was controversially sent off for a high challenge on Max Power.
“If anything, the dismissal just before half-time inspired City to cause Wigan even greater problems following a decent first half in which they should have been ahead. Wigan were forced deep into their own half as they soaked up attack after attack but managed to summon up one attack and how they made it pay. Kyle Walker misjudged a pass that gave Grigg an opening and despite the pressure from £100 million centre-half pairing of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte, the Wigan forward kept his cool to fire into the bottom corner.
“The 79th-minute goal stunned City, who were unable to create a killer chance to rescue their hopes of winning every competition this season. Guardiola even threw on Kevin De Bruyne for the closing stages but brilliant Wigan held firm to cause one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of recent years.
READ: Match Report | Wigan 1-0 City
READ: Pep Guardiola | It wasn’t our night
“Wigan’s FA Cup final triumph over City five years ago will still be the greatest day in the club’s history but the win over Pep Guardiola’s side may be the greatest result in the club’s history and their fans were quick to flood the pitch at full-time to celebrate.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Arsenal, Sky Sports’ James Walker-Roberts has run the rule over the two sides and he believes the improvement in City’s defence is the biggest contrast between this season and last.
City and Arsenal met at Wembley back in April in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, with the Gunners winning the match in extra time.
But Walker-Roberts says the landscape has changed considerably since then.
“While Arsenal’s defence has stalled, and maybe even declined at certain times and in certain areas, City’s looks to have improved,” he writes. “Significant investment has played a part, but Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones have both looked more secure in Pep Guardiola’s second season in charge.
“This time last year, Jamie Carragher said there were “seven or eight” teams in the Premier League with better defences than Manchester City. That was in a season when City were beaten 4-2 at Leicester and 4-0 at Everton, as well as losing 3-1 at Monaco in the Champions League.
“However, this season City have only conceded more than one goal in a game on six occasions - one a 7-2 thrashing of Stoke and one a 2-1 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk in a dead rubber Champions League clash. They have let in 20 goals in the Premier League this season, a total only bettered by Manchester United (19), and have also kept the third-highest number of clean sheets (12) behind Chelsea (14) and United (15).”
That’s all for this morning’s media roundup. Stay with us throughout the day for more as we prepare for Sunday’s Wembley showdown.
