Manchester City’s 10 men held on for a 1-1 draw at Wigan on Sunday as referee Alan Wiley returned to the spotlight with the second half dismissal of Pablo Zabaleta.
Mark Hughes’ team fell behind to Charles N’Zogbia’s first half strike at the DW Stadium, but Martin Petrov equalized soon after the interval and City looked the stronger side until Argentine full-back Zabaleta was shown a second yellow card.
Wiley’s fitness was criticized by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after a recent game against Sunderland but although Zabaleta’s first booking was marginal, there were no doubts about the second.
PHOTO: AFP
That forced City into a rearguard action and they battled well enough to emerge with a point that keeps them in fifth place in the Premier League, five points behind leaders Manchester United with a game in hand.
Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy were both sidelined with injuries so Petrov and Micah Richards came in as City searched for their first away win over Wigan in the top-flight.
City were pushed back early on, with N’Zogbia bursting clear of Nigel de Jong and driving his shot narrowly wide.
City finally responded when Carlos Tevez picked out Emmanuel Adebayor and the Togo striker slipped past Titus Bramble before forcing a smart stop from Chris Kirkland.
Hughes’ side were struggling to find their rhythm and Wigan threatened again when Hugo Rodallega’s ferocious effort was palmed away by Shay Given.
N’Zogbia had a goal disallowed when Wiley ruled he fouled Gareth Barry but the Latics didn’t have to wait long to go ahead.
In first half stoppage time, Rodallega’s cross-shot was pushed out by Given to N’Zogbia and he slid in ahead of Wayne Bridge to open the scoring.
That could have been a major dent to City’s morale but they regrouped at half-time and were level within 65 seconds of the re-start.
Tevez picked out Petrov on the edge of the Wigan penalty area and the Bulgarian let the ball roll to his favoured left foot before driving a superb strike past Kirkland.
It took a fine tackle from Bramble to deny Adebayor as he bore down on goal moments later.
Kirkland was called into action to push away Barry’s header from a deep Petrov cross as City went for the winner.
But City’s hopes of claiming all three points suffered a blow in the 65th minute when Zabaleta was dismissed by Wiley for his rash lunge on Jason Scotland.
Zabaleta’s second foul clearly deserved a booking but there had been some debate about Wiley’s decision to issue the Argentina defender with his first yellow card for a challenge on Maynor Figueroa.
Wigan’s slick passing style was beginning to wear City out and midfielder Mohamed Diame lashed just over as the hosts pushed on.
The sight of Adebayor limping off with an injury could hardly have raised Hughes’s spirits and he breathed a sigh of relief when Hendry Thomas’s effort was ruled out for offside.
City could have had a penalty in the closing stages when Wright-Phillips went down under Figueroa’s challenge, but Wiley turned down their appeals.
Meanwhile, Blackburn handed Burnley another dose of derby despair as Rovers came from behind to claim a 3-2 win over their bitter rivals on Sunday.
Sam Allardyce’s side trailed to a spectacular early goal from Robbie Blake at Ewood Park, but the hosts hit back with a three-goal blast before half-time through David Dunn, Franco Di Santo and Pascal Chimbonda.
Chris Eagles got one back for Burnley in stoppage time but it is now 30 years since Blackburn last suffered a defeat against their Lancashire neighbors.
The fixture was given an extra edge this time as it was the old enemies’ first meeting in the top-flight in 43 years.
It was Burnley who got off to a dream start as Blake opened the scoring in stunning style in the fifth minute.
He took possession midway inside the Blackburn half, surged forward and arrowed a ferocious strike past Paul Robinson.
Just four minutes later Blackburn were level and inevitably it was Dunn who silenced the away end.
Dunn is a lifelong Blackburn fan and his passion for Rovers had spilled over before the match when he delivered some potentially inflammatory pre-match taunts about Burnley.
The midfielder rubbed salt into their wounds in the ninth minute when he seized on Di Santo’s clever flick from Morten Gamst Pedersen’s cross to lash a low drive into the far corner.
Rovers were on top from that moment onwards. Allardyce’s side were soon in front as Di Santo profited from woeful Burnley defending in the 21st minute.
Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen started the comedy of errors as he fell after colliding with teammate Stephen Jordan while trying to reach a cross.
Graham Alexander’s attempt to clear the danger with a header was even worse and Di Santo took advantage to nod into the empty net before earning a booking for his excessive celebrations.
Blackburn extended their lead in the 43rd minute as the visitors crumbled.
Pedersen released Chimbonda on the overlap and the French defender tricked Steven Fletcher with a neat cutback before stroking a clinical shot past Jensen.
Fletcher tried to make amends for his part in Chimbonda’s goal with a curling effort early in the second half, but his shot failed to trouble Robinson.
Eagles came off the bench to reduce the deficit with a close-range finish in the 92nd minute but it was too late to save Burnley’s pride.
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