Will Grigg fires Wigan past 10-man Manchester City in feisty FA Cup tie after managers' half-time tunnel rage

Manchester City cannot say they were not warned. For 79 minutes of this magnificent FA Cup fifth round tie, the DW Stadium reminded their visitors of what their incendiary striker can do at any moment. It was inevitable. Will Grigg would catch fire and when he did, Pep Guardiola and players saw their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple disappear in a puff of smoke.

Wigan Athletic have yet another famous cup triumph over City to celebrate, and though this one did not end with a trophy as in 2013, or come in their opponents’ back yard like that the year after, it will live equally as long in the memory.

The imperious air around Guardiola’s side was shattered here, their hopes of making history ended, against all expectations. Even after Fabian Delph’s red card at the end of the first half had reduced the favourites to 10 men, it seemed unlikely.

Yet as against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bristol City earlier this season, opponents from a lower division did not allow City to have things their own way and proved more resilient than many of the top-flight sides to have come up against this team.

open image in gallery

City dictated the tempo, of course, but had no answers to Paul Cook’s dogged and disciplined defence, which limited them to all but a handful of clear chances. Wigan, meanwhile, always felt they would only need one opportunity. When it came, Grigg took it and ignited.

The pre-match buildup was dominated by memories of the final between these two five years ago, Ben Watson’s 90th-minute headed winner and the greatest day in Wigan’s humble history.

Victory here would never be considered as momentous, but it would arguably be harder to come by. Rather than a ragtag City in the death throes of a manager’s reign, Wigan found themselves against a team aiming for victory on all fronts this season and perhaps on the cusp of something historic.

City, however, did not start like a side with realistic aspirations of a quadruple and two early errors by Danilo almost allowed Wigan in.

open image in gallery

The right back first allowed Nathan Byrne’s tame cross to bundle through his legs and was lucky Claudio Bravo reached the ball before Gary Roberts. Minutes later, he was hustled off the ball by Roberts, who sent a smouldering Will Grigg bursting through at pace. His shot rippled the side netting.

Wigan were making the most of the space offered by Guardiola’s high line in these early stages, and though the visitors dominated possession-wise, they struggled to fashion many opportunities of their own in the first half.

Fernandinho wasted the best of them, blazing John Stones’ knockdown over from nine yards out, while Sergio Aguero forced goalkeeper Christian Walton into a fine save in added time at the end of the opening 45 minutes.

That had appeared to be that for the first half, but its most significant moment followed shortly afterwards.

Having being called into a 50-50 contest for the ball with Max Power, Delph launched into what could at best be described as a robust challenge. Referee Anthony Taylor initially drew a yellow card out of his pocket but, having perhaps considered Guardiola’s criticism of such tackles in recent weeks, elected to show a red.

Guardiola was incandescent on the touchline and remonstrated with Cook, who also shared words with Aguero. The scuffles continued in the tunnel where Peter Reid, now working in an voluntary advisory role at Wigan, acted as peacemaker between the two managers.

The interval came at just the right time and cooled off a cup tie that had threatened to boil over. Both sets of players and staff re-emerged in a calmer frame of mind and, despite being a man short, City picked up where they had left off.

On balance of play you would have assumed it was Wigan, not City, down to ten, such was the visitors’ domination of the ball at the start of the second half. Their share of possession broke the 80 per cent barrier in those minutes but, despite dictating the flow of play, they still struggled to truly test their hosts’ well-organised defence.

open image in gallery

It was a testament to how well Cook’s side were coping that, after an hour had been played, Guardiola relented and introduced Kevin De Bruyne from the substitutes’ bench, but not even the outstanding player of the Premier League season could have an immediate impact. City laboured on.

The visitors were committing so many men forward that they were always liable to be exposed at the back, but they never expected their downfall to come by way of their own hand. Kyle Walker was the culprit, allowing the ball to escape under his foot and trickle through to Grigg.

Walker gave chase and almost caught up but at the last possible moment, just as he began to lose balance, the Wigan striker arced a finish around Bravo and into the far corner.

In the remaining 10 minutes, City laid siege and fired off more attempts than they had managed in the previous 80. Walton came into his own, claiming each cross that he could and, in the final minute of an interminable stoppage-time period, clutched a Danilo header that seemed destined to drop in.

Finally, the final whistle sounded. City will have to wait to make history, while Wigan keep writing new chapters.