Manchester
City, with a massive helping hand from Wigan, breathed life into their
Premier League title challenge on Wednesday, as leaders Manchester
United were humbled at the DW Stadium. Arsenal will also be feeling
bullish about their chances of a top-three finish after another victory,
but Wolves find themselves in deep trouble at the bottom.
Wigan, stuck in the bottom three at the start of the night, move two points clear of the relegation zone with the victory, and they once again had to suffer a controversial officiating decision before securing their first Premier League points against the Red Devils.
A superb opening 35 minutes from the Latics appeared to have resulted in a goal when Victor Moses headed home at a corner, but the strike was ruled out by the linesman. A foul by Gary Caldwell on David De Gea was the decision, but replays showed the linesman’s judgment was extremely soft.
Wigan kept playing their football though and they got their reward five minutes after half-time, thanks to the invention of Maloney. The former Celtic man drifted in from the left, across the United area, before curling the ball past De Gea for 1-0.
Sir Alex Ferguson reacted by dragging off Wayne Rooney for Nani, and the United manager’s frustration grew when a handball by Maynor Figueroa inside the area was missed by the referee. United camped in the Wigan half for the final 15 minutes, but they could not break down the disciplined home rearguard as their grip on the title loosened slightly.
Manchester City are now only five points behind their rivals after a 4-0 triumph over West Brom. The night’s results mean City only need United to drop points in one further match for their title destiny to fall back into their own hands.
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