Manchester City and Guardiola’s ambition for 4 trophies came to an end at the DW stadium as the Manchester side suffered a shock exit in the hands of league 2 Wigan athletic side after series of controversial decision in the game. Guardiola was hoping to carrying on his impressive record of domestic superiority which he had previous enjoyed with a clean sweep of domestic trophies in Barcelona and Bayern respectively but Will Grigg goal decided the tie.
Guardiola is cerntainly not the first high-profile coach to have attempted domestic domination in England as Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Fergusen, Arsene Wenger, Carlo Ancelloti and host of big names in the football world have tried but faultered. Guardiola will certainly rue the loss to the controversial sending off Fabian Delph just before the end of the first interval. Wigan have previously eliminated two premier league sides prior to the game and will be facing MauricioPellegrino’s Southampton side in the next round as they continue to revive the spirit that lead them to success in the competition 5 years ago.
Manchester city began the game in a dominant form as the bossed the host right from the inception of the game. The dominant display was not capped by a goal as the away side missed a lot of chances to score in the game with Aguero and Gundogan in the first interval. City’s woes in front of goal were doubled when Fabian Delph was shown a controversial red-card just before the close of the first interval. The red card prompted a half-time clash between City boss Pep Guardiola and Wigan boss Paul Cook down the tunnel with staffs and players trying to broker peace. The two sides resumed the second half as City continued to display their superiority despite being a man down. Manchester city dominated the game but failed to convert their dominance to goals. Wigan’s defensive organization and concentration were rewarded in the 79th minute when Will Grigg pounced on a loose ball and guided the ball beyond Claudio Bravo into the net with his fewest of touches in the game to send the supporters into ecstasy. Manchester city threw everything forward and could not equalize as Danilo’s header was gratefully held by Christian Walton in the game’s final attack.
The Victory becomes the third time Wigan athletic have gotten better of City in the competition with the last one being in the competitions finals at Wembley 5 years ago. The win also becomes the right dosage to revive the struggling Latics. Guardiola and his City team will now try to salvage a treble beginning with Carabao cup finals against arsenal on Sunday.