Will Grigg fires Wigan to shock FA Cup win against Man City

Wigan Athletic 1 Manchester City 0

Wigan produced the shock of this season’s FA Cup with a 1-0 defeat of Manchester City in last night’s fifth round clash.

The runaway Premier League leaders, beaten just once this season domestically, succumbed to a goal on 79 minutes from Will Grigg in a bad-tempered match.

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The flashpoint was the first-half dismissal of Fabian Delph for a tackle on Max Power, an incident that prompted an ugly confrontation at half-time between City boss Pep Guardiola and Wigan manager Paul Cook.

Referee Anthony Taylor’s initial decision seemed to be that the challenge warranted a yellow card but he changed his mind and brandished a red. This brought down the red mist on the City manager.

According to Sky Sports, Guardiola and Cook had “a heated exchange” at the break, although the pair later played down the incident. “Nothing happened in the tunnel, nothing happened with my colleague,” said Guardiola. “It was just ‘please stay in your position’, that’s all, and then finished.”

Cook didn’t wish to dwell on the incident either. He told reporters: “I felt at the time it was a straight red. I don’t think Pep and his bench thought it was but that’s football. We’re never going to agree… I think we should speak about the game.”

And why shouldn’t Cook want to speak the about game? After all, in beating City this season Wigan became only the second club – after Liverpool’s league victory last month – to defeat the Sky Blues.

Not a bad claim to fame for a League One side. Then again, perhaps it wasn’t that much of a shock. This was the third time in six seasons that Wigan have defeated City in the FA Cup, their most memorable match being the 2013 victory in the final of the competition.

City dominated last night’s proceedings, enjoying 83% of possession and registering 27 attempts at goal, but they couldn’t find a way past the Wigan defence.

“Our lads deserve credit for their work,” said Cook of his defenders. “Some of the blocks they made were outstanding and to beat Man City you have to do that.”

Having absorbed so much pressure, Wigan then grabbed a goal 11 minutes from the end when Grigg fired an angled low shot into the visitors net from 20 yards. “It feels great,” said Cook. “They’re such a strong side and move the ball so well. We had to ride our luck at times and the sending-off is always a big incident.”

There was another incident after the final whistle when City striker Sergio Aguero swapped shirts with Wigan’s Chey Dunkley.

According to The Guardian, a home fan “goaded and attacked” the Argentine, and Dunkley had to intervene to prevent him pursuing his aggressor. As more Wigan fans streamed onto the pitch and ran towards the away end “police reinforcements had to be called as things quickly escalated”.

Missiles were thrown and insults exchanged as the evening ended in a way that tarnished an otherwise wonderful night for Wigan.

“We had to dig in, we really did, and the lads did that in abundance,” said Cook. “Now we play Southampton at home. I’m sure Southampton are as shocked as we are because they were probably thinking how disappointed they are going to the Etihad.”