The Latics were unluky not to come away with a point from Stamford Bridge after an impressive and battling performance.
However with seven games to go now, the Latics have everything to play for with each game representing an excellent chance for three points. Latics' fans will be hoping to finally get the rub of the referees green.
Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
Sometimes you cannot control results, but you control your performances and I was very pleased with the standards we showed at Stamford Bridge.
We looked positive in every department, well composed in our defending and put Chelsea in a few tricky situations going forward.
For their goal there is a clear foul on Ali Al Habsi; Fernando Torres has his elbow in the goalkeeper's face and when big calls like that go against you so do games, and it's frustrating because the players didn't deserve that today.
When you come to a place like Stamford Bridge you need your goalkeeper to be sharp, alert and ready to cover the goal which Ali did well.
He made some great reaction saves but the corner that led to the goal was a real low-point in the game for the referee, a clear foul that should have been spotted.
It was important today that we stopped Chelsea playing and get hold of the ball, and I felt we did that bravely.
We frustrated the opposition and it's not often you see the fans react negatively at half-time here in the way they did which reflected the work-rate of our players.
Having grown into the game well Conor (Sammon) and Franco (Di Santo) gave us fresh energy towards the end along with Victor (Moses).
We created a few half-chances and there was a point when I couldn't see either side scoring, to lose it through a decision like that was very disappointing.
In the last seven games we've played in a good manner and against Chelsea we took that up a level. If we continue to show those standards over the next six games football will give us the rewards we deserve.
Nobody, apart from those associated with Wigan Athletic, expected us to get a result today but there are 18 points still to play for in our final games and if we perform like we did today in those games we'll meet our target.
We have a fully fit squad desperate to play a part in the final games of the season and after stepping up to face Chelsea today we should all be very proud of the team.
Carlo Ancelotti
We have to play better but this is normal. To win there, we have to play at our 100%.
Obviously, we have more difficulty compared to last season to score a lot of goals. We are not able to convert the chances that we create.
The table
| Home | Away | Overall | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
| 1 | Manchester United | 32 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 28 | 23 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 70 | 32 | 69 | +38 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 30 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 29 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 59 | 29 | 59 | +30 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 31 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 26 | 16 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 55 | 25 | 58 | +30 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 31 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 50 | 27 | 56 | +23 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 31 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 24 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 44 | 36 | 53 | +8 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 31 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 42 | 38 | 45 | +4 |
| 7 | Everton | 32 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 45 | 41 | 44 | +4 |
| 8 | Bolton Wanderers | 32 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 31 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 46 | 43 | 43 | +3 |
| 9 | Newcastle United | 31 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 36 | 23 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 48 | 46 | 39 | +2 |
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | 32 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 33 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 59 | 39 | -13 |
| 11 | Fulham | 32 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 23 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 36 | 35 | 38 | +1 |
| 12 | Stoke City | 32 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 39 | 42 | 38 | -3 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 32 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 35 | 45 | 38 | -10 |
| 14 | Blackburn Rovers | 32 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 20 | 38 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 40 | 52 | 35 | -12 |
| 15 | Birmingham City | 31 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 24 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 31 | 43 | 35 | -12 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 31 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 36 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 39 | 53 | 34 | -14 |
| 17 | Blackpool | 31 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 23 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 22 | 36 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 45 | 63 | 33 | -18 |
| 18 | West Ham United | 32 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 25 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 31 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 38 | 56 | 32 | -18 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 32 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 31 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 36 | 56 | 32 | -20 |
| 20 | Wigan Athletic | 32 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 18 | 31 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 21 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 29 | 52 | 31 | -23 |
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the trip to the seaside to face Blackpool next weekend. The away support have sold out their allocation for this game in what is a certain relegation six pointer.
