It looked like it was going to be one of those days when Conor Sammon pushed the ball seemingly past Hart and into the bottom corner with seconds remaining - but some marvellous late turn of the ball sped it past the post and ensured a welcome three points for City. Wigan's second half performance meant it was a close run encounter, but the victory allows City to consolidate a top four position with Tottenham and United both facing difficult games today.
City played some impressive stuff at times in the first half - quite often just a pass or touch too many in some scintillating, quick-flowing moves. Silva was at the heart of most of them - finding room to manoeuvre down the left hand side - but the multiple one-twos between Tevez and Balotelli were also a joy to watch. As the person who sits behind me was at pains to point out to the whole stand, all this pretty football is pointless without an end product, and City were perhaps guilty of trying to walk it in at times but, as a show of quality and growing understanding between our players, this style was good to see.
Perhaps strange then that our only breakthrough of the game came through a comedy of errors on the part of the Wigan back line. A slip from Caldwell gave Silva the space to roll a shot in at the near post and Al Habsi will want to forget the rest. A howler of the first degree.
Wigan had their moments in the first half, with Victor Moses getting quite a bit of joy with his speed and trickery against Zabaleta, but it was in the second that they started to cause City the problems. Sammon's late miss was one of four fairly presentable chances in the half - McCarthy's drive from the edge of the box, Alcaraz's knock against the post, and Rodallega's weak finish from just outside the box. Whilst Wigan fans will be encouraged by the style of play they were putting together, their impotence in front of goal will worry them just as much.
City will be worried they let such a promising start descend into such a close encounter but the three points are what matters and City had to return to winning ways in the league here.
Again, there is concern over the form of our captain, Tevez. A series of head down runs into crowds of players and the occasional sulk counters his fantastic work rate - and he will need to be a little less greedy if he is going to be part of an effective team display. He has been out of sorts since the derby game and, if he is to feature, City will need more from him in the coming weeks.
Lescott had another good game at the back and is on a fine run of form - which is ideal in the light of the Kolo revelations (a man, it could be said, that he had already taken the place of). Kompany's return was very welcome, as the announcer said at every opportunity, despite only missing two games - and it was good to see De Jong back in action too.
City will need these players back for the run of games in March - starting with the long and chilly trip out to Kiev on Thursday. With the temperatures still knocking around minus ten, I'm sure a good number of players will make the most of the snood before it is banned from our pitches.
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