FA Cup Final Recap
Having read any
one of the hundreds of previews or predictions for Saturday’s FA Cup Final, you
would be inclined to believe that Manchester City had walked over Wigan
Athletic en route to the club’s 24th ever trophy. However it was not
to be. Lowly Wigan, who seem to play “the right way” according to Sky Sports’
Martin Tyler, were the team who played better football than anything Manchester
City’s $185,093,858 payroll could produce. What we were given was a rare
spectacle of football outplaying money which turned an already special day into
a legendary one.
A capacity crowd
filled Wembley to the roof for Wigan’s first ever FA Cup final which helped
push them to victory over a side who over the course of the year had proven
themselves to be far superior. Superiority however, does not matter in cup
football, all that matters is the performance on the day and on Saturday, Wigan
played the better football and therefore deservedly won the cup.
The first half was
a tight affair with chances coming few and far between however undoubtedly the
best opportunity to break the deadlock fell to Callum McManaman. The 22 year
old darted through the City defense and seemed to beat everyone twice before
lashing a shot that would have nestled into the back of the net had it not been
for the timely intervention of Pablo Zabaleta. City began the half by pressing
high up the pitch but began to play more negatively as the clock struck closer
to half time.
The second half
saw City’s lethargic trend continue as McManaman tirelessly ran at the
Manchester back four. He caused major problems for Roberto Mancini after he
forced Zabaleta into a challenge, which resulted in the Argentine receiving a
yellow card. The hastiness of his challenges would ultimately prove to be
City’s downfall after another one of McManaman’s runs forced Zabaleta into a
tackle that saw him receive his second yellow and subsequent red card.
With City down to
10 men, Wigan piled on the pressure. A Shaun Maloney free kick grazed the top
of the bar which was shortly thereafter followed by another thrust into the box
from Callum McManaman. He beat Gaël Clichy for pace along the endline and was
brought down in the area which sparked raucous appeals from the Wigan faithful
for the referee to award a penalty. The appeals fell upon deaf ears however he
did give Wigan a corner which would prove to be the deciding moment in the cup
tie. Shaun Maloney delivered a beautifully crafted ball into the area which
only needed the deftest of touches from substitute Ben Watson, who buried the
ball into the back of the net to give lowly Wigan the lead with merely seconds
to play.
Close to a minute
later, the whistle sounded, signifying that the Wigan dream had indeed become a
reality. They had won the Football Association Cup and they had beaten
Manchester City to do it. In the aftermath of the historic victory, Roberto
Martinez , or commonly known as “Spanish Bob” has been linked with the Everton
job and Roberto Mancini has been linked with unemployment; a rumor that has now
been realized upon news that he and the club will part ways effective
immediately.
Wigan began the
day as a small club in the Northwest who played football that was easy on the
eye but didn’t necessarily carry any lethality. They ended the day however as a
club who had finally stated that they can in fact play with the top teams and
in some cases play them off the pitch.
