WIGAN ATHLETIC.......4
Heskey 1, Dunne OG 3, Camara 65, Valencia 67
MANCHESTER CITY...0
Goals from Emile Heskey, Henri Camara, Antonio Valencia and an own goal from City skipper Richard Dunne help Latics record their biggest ever Premiership win.
Latics took all three points from this fixture and just as last season, scored four goals against Manchester City. However, on this occasion, the visitors never got chance to reply and Paul Jewell's men totally overran City.
Just as last week, Latics took a very early lead against our Mancunian visitors. In fact the clock didn't even reach two minutes when Emmerson Boyce crossed for Emile Heskey to volley straight past Nicky Weaver from the edge of the box. It was a superb execution by the former Liverpool and Birmingham striker, and almost a carbon copy of his goal against Blackburn.
It didn't take Latics long to double the lead thanks to a communication error in the City defence. Josip Skoko, who was making his first league start since early January, crossed the ball into the box, and the visitors were caught in a huge mix-up as City captain Richard Dunne attempted to head the ball back to Weaver, but the ball ended up going into the back of his own net to double Wigan's lead! This was just the sort of luck Latics needed to kick start our season.
Latics again stunned City as they scored twice within the space of three minutes again during the second half. Kevin Kilbane released Leighton Baines who then raced down the left flank, before squaring the ball through a sleepy looking City defence for Henri Camara to tap home from close range.
Debutant Andy Webster, who replaced Fitz Hall at half-time, played a big part in Wigan's fourth goal. His long ball found Heskey, who pulled the ball back to Antonio Valencia, and he took a few strides before he drove the ball inside the far post beyond the reach of Weaver.
After the run of negative results, this was just what Paul Jewell needed to kick start the season for Latics. City looked totally shell shocked once Latics had their two goal advantage and never really looked like threatening Chris Kirkland's goal. Meanwhile, Latics looked confident, and this should will hopefully be a springboard for the rest of the campaign.
The hard working Heskey had a brilliant performance, and saw a half-volley go wide in the 13th minute after connecting with Valencia's high cross, whilst Latics went close again just after the half-hour mark when Kevin Kilbane's dangerous looking cross was cleared away by Stephen Jordan. Leighton Baines took the corner, and Arjan De Zeeuw's header saw the ball fly past the wrong side of the far post.
It wasn't all good news for Skoko though, as he only lasted half-an-hour after picking up a knee injury, and was replaced by Denny Landzaat. The Dutch midfielder created a goal scoring chance on 55 minutes when his corner found the head of Paul Scharner, who narrowly headed over the bar.
Landzaat had some shooting practice himself just after the hour when Valencia teased his marker before pulling the ball back to the former Alkmaar player, but he blasted it over the bar from long range. Camara also had a chance to score a fifth in stoppage time, but fired over Weaver's bar.
City boss Stuart Pearce, who fielded inexperienced youngsters Michael Johnson and Matthew Mills, must have been disappointed that his team hardly produced a save out of Chris Kirkland all match
Georgios Samaras headed towards the target, but it was a routine catch for Kirkland. The visitors also wasted a decent chance when Trevor Sinclair's cross from the right found former Valencia striker Bernado Corradi, but the Italian headed over the bar when he should have made Kirland work harder.
Pearce replaced Dietmar Hamann with Paul Dickov and then Mills was withdrawn for Darius Vassell, which meant the visitors had four strikers on the pitch at the same time!
Vassell dragged his shot wide of the target just minutes after his introduction, but the tactical substitutions backfired on the City boss as Latics carved his team through the midfield to win at a canter.
Latics Line Up: Kirkland; Boyce, Hall (Webster 46), De Zeeuw (c), Baines; Valencia (Teale 83), Scharner, Skoko (Landzaat 30), Kilbane, Heskey, Camara.
Substitutes: Pollitt, McCulloch.
Booked: Webster
Man. City Line Up: Weaver; Richards, Mills (Vassell 59), Dunne, Jordan; Johnson, Barton, Hammann (Dickov 46), Sinclair; Samaras, Corradi.
Substitutes: Hart, Onuoha, Laird.
Booked: Hamann
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Assistants: G. Atkins and R. West
Fourth Official: M. Atkinson
