Wigan produced the most extraordinary FA Cup final shock for a quarter of a century and condemned Roberto Mancini to the sack at Manchester City as Ben Watson headed in a 90th-minute winner from a Shaun Maloney corner.
As club owner Dave Whelan, who received a career-ending broken leg in the 1960 final, danced a jig in the Royal Box and Wigan’s incredulous fans — vastly outnumbered by the City hordes — cavorted, their players dived upon Watson at the corner flag to mark the most stunning FA Cup final reverse since Wimbledon beat Liverpool 1-0 in 1988
And Watson’s glancing near-post header was similar to the Crazy Gang’s winner from Lawrie Sanchez on that famous Wembley occasion.
For Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, it was a marvellous achievement. His team could yet be relegated from the Premier League but this was a stunning day for a club who were playing in the Northern Premier League in 1978 and were pitted against last season’s Premier League champions and the richest club in the world, backed by the oil dollars of Abu Dhabi. City never recovered from the sending-off of Pablo Zabaleta in the 84th minute.
Though Watson had a heroic part to play, it was Callum McManaman who will go down in FA Cup history, producing perhaps the most influential display at the final since Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard in 2006 with a mesmerising display of dribbling and athleticism. His dynamism also brought about the dismissal of Zabaleta for two yellows.
Both teams provided surprises before kick-off, with Mancini opting for first-choice goalkeeper Joe Hart rather than his FA Cup keeper Costel Pantilimon. Martinez mirrored that, sticking with Joel Robles, rather than Ali Al Habsi, who played in the semi-final.
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