Manchester City’s quadruple trophy bid was sensationally derailed by a shocking 1-0 defeat at third-division Wigan in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday.
With the Premier League leaders down to 10 men after Fabian Delph’s red card, Will Grigg scored a stunning, breakaway goal in the 79th minute as Wigan beat City for the third straight time in the FA Cup, after their 2013 final and 2014 quarterfinal victories.
The main talking point came on the stroke of half-time as City’s Fabian Delph was controversially sent off for sliding in on Max Power.
An irate Pep Guardiola became embroiled in a touchline argument with Wigan boss Paul Cook, and the managers continued their row in the tunnel as the teams left the field at half-time; they had to be separated by colleagues.
After the game, City striker Sergio Aguero appeared to be involved in an altercation with a fan as the celebratory pitch invasion at the DW Stadium turned ugly.
Yet, despite their numerical disadvantage, City had only themselves to blame for spurning a host of chances against the League One side, who now go forward to a quarterfinal clash with Southampton, against all odds.
It was only City’s third defeat in all competitions this season, following the Champions League loss to Shaktar Donetsk on December 6 and their lone Premier League setback against Liverpool on January 14.
They will now turn their attention to winning those two competitions, as well as the Carabao Cup, in which they will face Arsenal in the final on Sunday.
