Pep Guardiola warned against complacency at League One promotion chasers Wigan, who had beaten two Premier League sides in Bournemouth and West Ham to get to the fifth round of the FA Cup. The hosts put the disappointment of successive League One defeats behind them backed by the fantastic atmosphere inside the DW Stadium for the visit of the runaway Premier League leaders.
And Wigan clung to great FA Cup memories against Manchester City to motivate them, having been relegated from the Premier League four days after upsetting City to win the FA Cup with a Ben Watson goal in 2013. Much has changed since then with the Latics enduring a turbulent five years since, suffering two further relegations and managing one promotion.
The well-oiled machine that is Manchester City saw more of the ball but were limited to few clear-cut chances. Wigan defended deeep and looked to create problems for the Citizens on the break. Two early mistakes from Danilo tested the visitors, who showed some worrying signs at the back when put under pressure.
Most of the play took place in the Wigan half as City were allowed possession, but the hosts grew in confidence as minutes went by and City failed to break the deadlock. Gundogan tested Walton early on and Aguero chose to go for goal late in the first half instead of squaring for the German midfielder, with the goalkeeper once again parrying it away well.
But the highlight before the break came in injury time, with Fabian Delph sliding in on Power and catching the midfielder's ankles. The referee appeared to initially reach for his yellow card but he then brandished the red for the City left-back. A situation which left many in the visitors' dugout displeased, and Guardiola and Wigan boss Paul Cook appeared to get involved in a heated exchange on the touchline.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, there was no sign of any let-up from Manchester City after the break, as they continued to dominate possession. The patient build-up play was not enough to open up Wigan at the back and Guardiola turned to Kevin De Bruyne with twenty-five minutes to go. The Belgian proved a constant menace but not enough to give City a cutting edge.
- 'Will Grigg's on fire' -
Wigan were hardly in the game in the second half, and Will Grigg had very little to feed off all evening, but the Northern Ireland international took advantage of a mistake by Kyle Walker to let the ball run past him and beat Claudio Bravo from the edge of the box.
Pep Guardiola's men had hoped for another canter but suddenly saw themselves having to pile bodies forward with the time running out. The stadium burst into celebration as the referee blew his whistle for full-time.
While promotion to the Championship remains the priority for the Latics, there is always room for a bit of Cup magic and victory over the uncontested Premier League champions will certainly lift spirits at the DW Stadium as their FA Cup dream continues at the expense of City's quadruple hopes.