Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
We started the game very well and continued to grow into it, by half time we were looking like the side who were most likely to go on and dominate.
We had a couple of chances but allowed little frustrations to creep into our play after having one or two decisions go against us and it ended up being a very difficult exercise.
The first goal was a key moment in the game and at that point it would have been very easy to accept it wasn't going to be our day and give up. But I felt the character and determination we showed was something to be proud of and something to build upon for the rest of the season.
To go down to eight outfield players at a place like Old Trafford is obviously very difficult, but I think we played the game out with great integrity, character and fought for one another until the very last second.
That's something we didn't have last season when we were more likely to capitulate than produce a performance like that.
The dressing room was full of frustration after the game and we're going to get that frustration out of us in a positive way on Saturday So there's are many positives to take from the performance and we'll allow them to help us pick up points elsewhere.
We showed the signs of a team who are building a platform to develop upon and that fills me with pride. Today up until we conceded the first goal I saw a team mentally prepared to accept the challenge of coming to places like Old Trafford and try to win the game."
Sir Alex Ferguson
We missed a lot of chances in the last 20 minutes against Wigan, we could have done our goal difference the power of good.
It's been a good day for us, no question about that. This league is without doubt a high-quality league now. All the games you play are very difficult. You saw that last week when a young Aston Villa team came out and set about us. It was the same again today.
I think we know ourselves that come the second half of the season we'll definitely get better. At this moment in the time, we just need to be in that bit at the top of the league.
We're joint top with Chelsea now and we've got another home game next week against Blackburn. Then we'reaway to Blackpool and after that we've got the two big games against Arsenal at home, then Chelsea away.
I thought Wigan were very aggressive, a lot of really aggressive challenges tested the referee throughout the game. In the first half we had a lot of free-kicks and Wigan put themselves about, there's no doubt about that.
The centre-back [Antolin Alcaraz, Wigan captain] made a few fouls in the first half and when you do that you ride your luck. It was a silly challenge on Darren Fletcher [for Alcaraz's second yellow card] because Darren was going back towards his own goal.
The second [sending off] was clear. I thought the boy Rodallega was off the ground when he challenged [Rafael]. I need to see it again though, as I'm not sure.
In the main we had a lot of the ball without really doing anything. What we're finding and what I'm thinking about is that we seem to be playing all our best football in the last 20 minutes of games.
We need to get more quickness in our play in the first half of matches. I thought we were a wee bit slow in the build-up. We had control of the game, though, and when we have that, we're always capable of getting the goal we need.
The table
| Latest match Saturday, 20th November 2010 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Chelsea | 14 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 28 | 9 | 28 | +19 | ||||
| 2 | Manchester United | 14 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 | 15 | 28 | +13 | ||||
| 3 | Arsenal | 14 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 15 | 26 | +13 | ||||
| 4 | Bolton Wanderers | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 26 | 20 | 22 | +6 | ||||
| 5 | Manchester City | 13 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 22 | +5 | ||||
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 22 | +2 | ||||
| 7 | Sunderland | 13 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 19 | +2 | ||||
| 8 | Stoke City | 14 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 0 | ||||
| 9 | Liverpool | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 19 | -1 | ||||
| 10 | Newcastle United | 14 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 21 | 18 | +1 | ||||
| 11 | Blackpool | 14 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 18 | -6 | ||||
| 12 | Aston Villa | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 18 | 17 | -3 | ||||
| 13 | Birmingham City | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 16 | -2 | ||||
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | 14 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 25 | 16 | -9 | ||||
| 15 | Everton | 13 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 15 | +1 | ||||
| 16 | Blackburn Rovers | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 15 | -3 | ||||
| 17 | Fulham | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 0 | ||||
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 14 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 14 | -13 | ||||
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 14 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 25 | 9 | -11 | ||||
| 20 | West Ham United | 14 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 9 | -14 | ||||
Next game
Next up for the Latics is the trip to West Ham United which will be made somewhat more difficult by the absences of Hugo Rodallega and Antolin Alcaraz. After the Hammers lost 3-0 against Liverpool, the game has really stepped itself forward as a six-pointer.