More penalty drama sinks City

Manchester City's multi-million pound revolution suffered another setback after Wigan claimed a 2-1 victory in their Barclays Premier League clash at the JJB Stadium.


Empics
Valencia hammers home the first goal.

City struggled to break down organised Wigan, despite including the expensive talents of British record signing Robinho in their side - along with summer imports Jo and Vincent Kompany.

Brighton had knocked City out of the Carling Cup in midweek and Latics boss Steve Bruce won the tactical battle - and took the bragging rights - with his former Manchester United team-mate Mark Hughes thanks to Amr Zaki's 34th-minute penalty.

Antonio Valencia had given Wigan the lead with a spectacular 16th-minute opening goal from long range.

• Heskey praise for Zaki

Kompany's close-range finish from Elano's free-kick five minutes later pulled the visitors level but City were unable to find an equaliser in the second half.

City boss Hughes recalled record signing Robinho as he made five changes from the team which were eliminated by Brighton.

Robinho along with Shaun Wright-Phillips, Javier Garrido, Micah Richards and Joe Hart came in for Michael Ball, Tal Ben Haim, Michael Johnson, Daniel Sturridge and Kasper Schmeichel.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce makes two changes to the side which won 4-1 at Ipswich with Kevin Kilbane and Paul Scharner replaced by Maynor Figueroa and skipper Mario Melchiot.

The hosts had the first opportunity in the 13th minute from a short corner when the ball found striker Zaki on the right edge of the penalty area - but his ambitious shot flew just over the bar.

The Latics then took the lead with a spectacular strike from Valencia three minutes later.

City failed to clear the danger from a free-kick and Valencia controlled the ball 30 yards out on the right side of the area before he lashed a shot past goalkeeper Hart into the top-right corner of the net.

The visitors almost equalised moments later after neat build-up play but Robinho's shot from the edge of the box went just past the post.

However, Hughes' side did pull level in the 21st minute from a free-kick - after Wright-Phillips had been fouled by Figueroa.

Elano whipped the dead ball into the penalty area and Belgium international Kompany was able to steer the ball home from inside the six-yard box.

Wigan were given a chance to restore their lead in the 34th minute when they were awarded a penalty by referee Steve Bennett after Javier Garrido was deemed to have fouled Wilson Palacios inside the box.

The decision seemed debatable with Garrido having made minimal contact with Palacios and Bennett booked Robinho for his protests.

Zaki took the resulting spot-kick and confidently sent Hart the wrong way with a placed effort into the bottom-right corner of the net.

City were denied a penalty of their own just before half-time when Richard Dunne fell under pressure from Emile Heskey but Bennett waved away their appeals.

Wigan began the second period brightly and Titus Bramble went close with a header which drifted wide of the post from Valencia's cross five minutes after the interval.

Latics boss Bruce was then forced into a change in midfield when Lee Cattermole picked up an injury and was replaced by Michael Brown.

Brazilian playmaker Elano came closer to an equaliser in the 61st minute with a long-range attempt which beat the dive of Chris Kirkland but flew past the post.

Wright-Phillips forced Kirkland to make his first real save of the half when he struck a near-post shot in the 73rd minute.

The ineffective Jo was withdrawn by Hughes a minute later in favour of Ched Evans as City pressed for an equaliser - and he almost had an immediate impact.

The Wigan defence struggled to deal with a long ball and Kirkland missed his kick as he came off his line - but with the ball rolling towards goal Wigan cleared.

City continued to create a series of half-chances but the Wigan defence stood firm and frequently looked dangerous on the break.

Zaki then had a late chance to add a third in the final minute of injury-time on the counter-attack but Hart tipped his shot over the bar.

# Heskey praise for Zaki

Wigan's Emile Heskey praised strike partner Amr Zaki after the Egyptian put in a man-of-the-match performance to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Manchester City.

''When you are playing football it is more than talking, it is telepathic,'' said the England international about his relationship with his non-English speaking team-mate.

''Communication is difficult when you try to explain some stuff but he has done brilliantly since he came here, scoring five league goals.''

Heskey was also relieved the team recorded their first home win of the season.

''It is massive for us. We looked at table this morning and we were staring at the relegation [zone], although it is early in the season,'' he added on Sky Sports.

''You always want to pull away. Everyone around us was winning or drawing games.

''We stuck in there and got three points we deserved. Towards end of last season this is where we picked up most of our points.

Wigan manager Steve Bruce likened Zaki's style to that of his former Manchester United team-mate and current City boss Mark Hughes.

''He is that sort of type, he has the same physique as Mark,'' he said. ''He is a throwback - and that is no disrespect to the old-fashioned centre-forwards. Zaki played with enormous appetite, he is as strong as a bull, and both Richard Dunne and Micah Richards know they have been in a game.

''Emile Heskey and Zaki were awesome up front. When you play against Dunne and Richards you know you are going to take a physical battering.''

Bruce felt his side were correctly awarded a penalty despite Wilson Palacios theatrically throwing himself to the ground under a challenge from Javier Garrido.

''I said penalty straight away. For me he has exaggerated it but there was contact so it was the right decision,'' Bruce added on Sky Sports.

Hughes felt his team got the worst of the decisions of referee Steve Bennett.

The City boss explained: ''I thought he was in good positions to make key decisions but he got the penalty wrong, it was just a coming together and their lad (Palacios) dived theatrically - then he missed Richard Dunne when he was clearly impeded (by Heskey) in their box.

''There was a very similar one in the second half when Micah Richards came together in a similar situation and he dived theatrically - but the foul went against him.

''I felt there were a few decisions that were a bit mystifying.''

However, Hughes was not impressed with his team's performance, adding: ''We are disappointed - we expected to get something out of the game.

''We had enough possession but didn't have enough tempo to our passing in the second half, or a cutting edge.

''Maybe if we'd had a better final ball we'd have created something but because the tempo was slow they got bodies behind the ball and it was difficult to break them down.

''It was a stop-start game and there wasn't the flow or momentum we wanted. We needed that to drive us forward but we never got our game going.