Wigan end Man City quadruple bid with Cup shock

Wigan, United Kingdom | AFP | Pep Guardiola’s quest to win an unprecedented quadruple with Manchester City came to a stunning and controversial end when they fell to a 1-0 defeat at third-tier Wigan in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Monday.

In an uncanny repeat of the 2013 FA Cup final, in which City had a player sent off before losing to a late Wigan winner, Guardiola’s side had Fabian Delph dismissed amid stormy scenes before Will Grigg’s 79th-minute goal decided the game.

A famous night was marred, however, by a post-match pitch invasion by Wigan supporters which saw a number of them confront City players, with striker Sergio Aguero required to defend himself.

FULL TIME | City bow out of the #FACup…

⚪ 1-0 ? #wafcvcity pic.twitter.com/iB16sOdS7d

— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 19, 2018

Earlier the drama had been provided by Northern Ireland international Grigg who capitalised on an error by Kyle Walker — who allowed a pass to run through to the Wigan man — and kept ahead of John Stones before finishing clinically from just inside the area.

It was only City’s second defeat to English opposition since losing an FA Cup semi-final to Arsenal last April while their opponents can now look forward to a quarter-final home tie with Southampton.

The pivotal sending-off arrived in first half injury-time when Fabian Delph made a rash challenge on Wigan’s Max Power, prompting referee Anthony Taylor to pull a yellow card out of his pocket before changing his mind and producing red.

That infuriated City players, who surrounded the referee, and the dispute spilled into the rival technical areas with Sergio Aguero having to be dragged away by Guardiola as he argued furiously with Wigan coaches.

That’s what the FA Cup is all about! Best night I’ve experienced in football ? pic.twitter.com/2oakKU3eJ3

— Max Power (@mp_1825) February 19, 2018

The scene turned even uglier, with television cameras in the tunnel capturing footage of Guardiola and Wigan manager Paul Cook in a major verbal confrontation and being kept apart by staff.

– Wasteful Aguero –

City might have enjoyed a far more comfortable evening had their record goalscorer Aguero not missed a golden opportunity after just two minutes, heading over Bernardo Silva’s pinpoint cross from just six yards.

And home keeper Christian Walton needed to be alert a few moments later, diving smartly to parry away a fierce strike from Ilkay Gundogan.