Forthcoming Fixtures

Goals from Harry Bunn and Jeremy Helan were enough to send City through to the next round of the Lancashire FA Senior Challenge Cup with a home tie against Liverpool. Wigan were given hope when a mix up between Freddie Veseli and David Gonzalez allowed the home side to pull a goal back, but they were soon reduced to ten men when Roman Golobart was sent off for striking Captain Ben Mee.

City made four changes after last week's league defeat to Wigan at the Robin Park Arena and Wigan made seven changes from that match to make the average age and match experience very similar for both sides. However City possess more talent and skill at this level and the match was mainly one sided apart from a fifteen minute spell in the second half.

City started the match with real purpose as jeremy Helan found himself in space on the left in the second minute but he blasted a cross far to hard for anyone to connect with when a first time shot across the goal was the better option. Wigan had one of their rare chances just a couple of minutes later when Callum McManaman crossed in for Abian Serrano but he headed wide of the post.

City's opening goal came just before the twenty minute mark with a good flowing move that Abdisiliam Ibrahim, Shaleum Logan, the returning loanee Andrew Tutte and finally into Harry Bunn on the left of the area and he dropped his shoulder and cut inside and curled a low strong shot in off the far post of the goal and into the back of the net.

City then played a containing game for the majority of the half then as they played possession football for most of it.

The second half was far more full of incidents but again it was City that were showing their domination in the opening fifteen minutes when Tutte had a decent free kick from twenty five yards that went just wide. Four minutes after that and Chris Chantler made a surging run and knocked the ball onto Scott Kay but goalkeeper Lee Nicholls was able to save and get the ball cleared.

That was only a brief restbite for Wigan as four minutes later City doubled their lead when Scott Kay got forward and played the ball out to the right to Freddy Veseli and he created space to cross in and Kay laid the ball of to Jeremy Helan and he blasted the ball in at the near post into the back of the goal past Nicholls.

The final twenty minutes of the game was non stop action with Wigan getting themselves back into the game. First saw Daniel Redmond have a free kick that David Gonzalez saved a couple of minutes before David and Veseli had a mix up with a short back pass and in nipped the substitute Ivan Sunday to fire into and empty goal.

A minute later saw Wigan's main instigator McManaman hit a speculative shot from thirty five yards that had gonzalez beaten but fortunately hit the top of the cross bar. he then cut inside a few minutes later he cut inside on the edge of the area and thundered a shot just inches wide of the post.

Just minutes later and Andrew Tutte hit a free kick that like McManaman's effort before hit the top of the crossbar.

McManaman was not finished there as his twenty five yard free kick after a clumsy challenge by Veseli forced another good save by Gonzalez. From that save the ball came out and Ben Mee dived in on Roman Golobart; but he took offence to this and lashed out and he was sent off for his troubles and mee was booked for the crude challenge.

City then had back to back chances with minutes to spare with Ibrahim playing the assist to Tutte but his shot was tipped over for a corner and from that corner it came back out to Ibrahim who ran in but his shot across the face of goal went narrowly wide.

Teams:

Wigan Athletic:

Nicholls, Girvan, Redmond, Golobart, Robinson, Breeze (Sunday 62), Morris, Lambert (Willis 46), Rugg (Holt 62), McManaman, Serrano

Subs: O'Hare, Astles

Manchester City:

Gonzalez, Veseli, Chantler, Kay, Wabara, Mee, Logan (Elabdellaoui 68), Tutte, Bunn (Benali 90), Ibrahim, Helan

Subs: Johansen(GK), Roman

Attendance: circa 85