Opinion: A point gained or two lost

Before the game you would have had to look long and hard to find a Latics fan who wouldn't have taken a 1-1 draw. City are flying high at the top end of the table and have a very strong first eleven.

The game didn't play out the way it was meant to as Wigan more than matched the millions on display for City. Former Blackburn Rovers boss, Hughes was well and truly outsmarted by Roberto Martinez who deployed his players to their potential, stifling City's attacking threat as well as causing their defence a number of problems.

Emanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez were so woefully ineffective, it was embarrassing, and a large part of that is down to the performances of both Titus Bramble and Emmerson Boyce at the back. In particular, Boyce marshalled Adebayor so well, the Togan striker felt it necessary to feign injury on his substitution midway through the second half.

In midfield, De Jong and Barry couldn't cope with the energy and aggression of Mo Diame and Hendry Thomas who are starting to look like a very strong partnership in the middle of the park.

As with the Chelsea victory, Scharner was a real threat with his aerial prowess, whilst N'Zogbia really stepped up his game with a terrific performance that made Wayne Bridge look slow and incompetent.

Hugo Rodallega certainly suits the wide position. His tricky running and long range shooting works well with Jason Scotland's battering ram approach to centre forward play.

The game became scrappy as referee Alan Wiley lost control. Yellow cards were starting to fly around everywhere and it was only going to be a matter of time before a red one was flashed at some unfortunate soul.

Pablo Zabaleta's lunge at Jason Scotland could not be forgiven, particularly for a player on a yellow card, and he was duly despatched to the bath room to play with his yellow duck.

A game that was previously very much 50/50 now swung in favour of the home side. Eleven versus ten meant a composed passing display from the Latics who spent the final twenty-five minutes trying to break City down and snatch a winning goal.

It is hoped that Paul Scharner was substituted yesterday as a result of injury of fatigue as opposed to purely tactical reasons. Jordi Gomez his replacement is looking desperately out of his depth and more than yard off the pace of the Premiership.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Spaniard's arrival marked the point at which the attacking threat of the Latics was somewhat subdued, and despite having a good chance late on, Gomez has a lot of work to do to win over the Wigan faithful.

Jordi Gomez: Struggling to win over the Wigan public after a slow start to his Wigan career

The late pressure did not result in the winning goal that would have made Sunday evenings in Wigan all the more pleasurable, but the result and performance will have earned Martinez and his players plenty of credit amongst their Premier league peers.

Personally I would treat the draw with City a point gained, however, the last time I thought we gained points (three against Chelsea), we threw three away the week after against Hull. Let's hope that isn't the case next week with Burnley.

Following the last three games with Chelsea, Hull and City, the first eleven would now appear to pick itself. Only Scott Sinclair amongst the substitutes on Sunday with any real claim to possess the quality needed for a first team place. Olivier Kapo could well be revitalised under Martinez, but that is a story for another day.

The target now has to be to earn back to back victories. That will be easier said than done as even Manchester United have lost this season at Turf Moor.

Burnley will be up for the game next weekend after their 3-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers this weekend. The Clarets are said to pride themselves on not being a kick and rush team so it could well be an interesting encounter and a chance for the Latics to settle down into a pattern of consistency.

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