Al Habsi can be credited with limiting the visitors to just the one goal

I know I say this pretty much every time Latics play on a day other than Saturday, but it just feels weird. All the weekend’s footballing drama is normally washed away by our return to the daily grind at 8AM on Monday morning, and the whole day is ordinarily something of a sedate affair. The last thing I expect to see is more frantic Premier League action when I return from work, but once or twice a year we get these anomalies, these freaks of nature. Last night could have been unusual in more ways than one – there was a possibility that champions elect Manchester City could drop points at bottom-of-the-table Wigan, and the little guys certainly gave Mancini’s Fantasticos a run for their (no doubt Balotelli-donated) Monday roast.

Latics rode their luck and did just about enough in that second half to warrant a more even result. In the end, however, Antolin Alcaraz’s needless challenge on the left of defence led to a Dzeko goal that ultimately decided the contest. Wigan came back strong, increasing in confidence as the game progressed, but just didn’t have that extra bit of quality up front. Though City had their chances, really good ones at that, they consistently failed to double their lead and Latics were always in with an excellent chance of at least a point. Certainly by the final fifteen minutes, the visitors opted to go defensive and always left themselves open to that equaliser and, of course, a potential winning goal from Latics.

The problem was getting that goal, and Wigan just couldn’t do it. Guess that’s why we’re still rooted to the bottom of the table – harsh but fair, I’d say. Perhaps the best chance fell to James McCarthy, who benefited from Hugo Rodallega’s willingness to chase lost causes, but saw his shot blocked by Joe Hart. Had that hit the net, Wigan would have smelled more than just a drop of blood and that shock of all shocks would have still been possible. At the very least, we’d certainly have been in for a very interesting 20 minutes or so. That was it for clear-cut chances, however, and though Latics were a side revitalised in the second stanza, those shots on target deserted them once more.

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Vincent Kompany was appointed captain as Tevez struggled

In my own football supporting life, I have witnessed Manchester City, historically one of the big players in British football, fall from grace only to rather spectacularly clamber their way back to the toppermost heights, with the promise of more to come. It’s been a quite remarkable transformation that one can draw some parallels with Wigan’s own rise to prominence. Not quite to the extent of City, but a noteworthy achievement nevertheless, and that divisional ascent can be regarded of something of a shared experience.

In some ways, not much has changed. Last year, I wrote about the ‘Special Relationship‘ Wigan and Man City share. I noted that the first meeting between a Wigan football team and today’s Mancunian opponents occurred over a century ago, when Wigan County only just lost 1-0 to City in an FA Cup First Round match. It goes to show that the history of encounters between the towns is longer than one may care to think, and one perhaps befitting of the clubs’ geographic locations. After all, we’re practically neighbours –it can take less than an hour to get to East Central Manchester from Wigan Wallgate– and it’s not a good idea to go poking around with the Rottweilers next door.

With Man City back in the ascendency and regarded as many people’s favourites for the 2011-12 Premier League, Wigan faced something of an ominous task. City’s squad(s) of superstars were wholly expected to hammer little Wigan into a soft, malleable substance ripe for a good kicking over the Ship Canal and back to the slums of urban Wigan. “You’re a disgrace to the Metropolitan County,” they would bellow while simultaneously balancing three footballs upon their tremendously-skilled heads and taking a great (brightly-coloured, hand-made) boot to what once claimed to be a football club.

The effect of two weeks’ international duties was sure to add some spice to the contest, with players from both teams indulging in a spot of globe-trotting to participate in games as far afield as South America. Jet-lag or no jet-lag, City were humongous favourites, but there was, as always, that nagging thought that Wigan might upset the (fearsome and exceedingly expensive) juggernaut in some manner. That’s exactly what Martinez and his band of merry international gate-crashers set out to do, and they certainly gave it a go at the City of Ma- erm, Etihad Stadium. Phew, think I got away with that one.

Enough pandering to the big boys – what is this, a tabloid newspaper? Let’s get the Latics bias into full swing.

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Conor Sammon, the potential saviour (Credit: Alasdair Middleton)

Isn’t it funny how one heavy loss –which, I must reiterate, was largely expected– can change the mood at a club to such an extent? Well, I say ‘club’ when I mean ‘the fans’, because after the shenanigans of last week, Roberto remained as philosophical as ever. Should we expect anything else? The guy’s a true professional, certainly cut out for the highest level even if his team isn’t playing that way right now. Might be a few years before we see Bob make some progress in the Premier League (or even elsewhere in Europe, probably his Spanish homeland), but it feels like we’re the guinea pigs right now.

Forget that feeling of helplessness for the moment, for in much the same way one loss can make us all so horribly pessimistic we wouldn’t be out of place at a Coldplay concert (two Coldplay digs in two weeks! I believe that’s a JWAW record), it only takes one big performance –and by that I mean a win– for a whole different perspective to be cast upon our season. One result on its own wouldn’t keep us up, but the confidence it could instil would stand us in good stead for the proverbial mountain we have yet to climb.

And yes, I would call it a mountain. The main problem is that there are teams better set for survival than the vulnerable tactics we’re locked into for the remainder of the season – namely they have guys that can score goals and are set up to do so. They have forward-thinking players used to occupying the traditional scoring outlets and favour goals over performances. In our favour, we’re now all but back to full strength and, thanks to that Clattenburg fellow (thank goodness he was so scared to brandish his cards), were free of suspension worries for today’s game – we were gonna need everyone and more for this.

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Gareth Barry steered his team to a comfortable away win

Right, this afternoon wasn’t pretty so I’ll spare you too many gory details. All you need to know is that Wigan lost. This was partially down to the fact their presence in the opposition half was, shall we say, less than adequate, at least if you see scoring goals as your primary target in a football match.

The home side weren’t completely outplayed, though they could have been had City found their straps earlier. In the end it was a case of ‘get in there, do the job and get out’ as they looked to play out the final minutes following their second goal. I guess we can be thankful for that, but Wigan once again lacked any potency. Sound familiar? Well, it should.

Latics’ only shot on target in the first half came on 29 minutes, and if you consider that was the first time either team had challenged the opposition goalie, you get a fair picture of how the first half an hour went.

A cautious Man City were the better team for 15 minutes, but Wigan came back into things, earning themselves a fair slice of possession. Still no end product, however, and once again we were made to pay. On 43 minutes, a Joe Hart goal kick sliced off the back of a defender’s head and into the path of Carlos Tevez. It could hardly have fallen better for the Argentinian, who duly chipped Ali Al-Habsi to give City the lead going into the break.

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