TRY telling ginger-haired Ben Watson and everyone connected with Wigan that
the FA Cup has lost its magic.
Yesterday, it sprinkled fairy dust around Wembley once more to conjure up one
of the competition’s biggest ever shocks.
This is right up there with Sunderland’s 1973 victory over Leeds and
Wimbledon’s triumph against Liverpool in 1988.
The moment Prince Harry lookalike Watson headed in Shaun Maloney’s injury-time
corner, it put him alongside Ian Porterfield and Lawrie Sanchez, who got the
winners in those never-to-be-forgotten finals.
Wigan had not even been past the sixth round of this competition in their
81-year history, never mind reached a final.
A club with an average attendance of around 19,000 from a town that has rugby
league as its first sport were supposed to be lambs to the slaughter against
Roberto Mancini’s expensively-assembled champions of last season.
But the club whose signature tune at the DW Stadium is The Monkees’ I’m a
Believer were not having their tummies tickled by one of football’s elite.
Perhaps only this team and their 23,000 supporters here yesterday, a quarter
of Wigan’s population, were the only believers that this could happen.
But rub your eyes and look again for happen it did. Watson, who suffered a
broken leg in November, had only entered the fray yesterday as a 81st-minute
substitute.
A supersub as it turned out. And what a moment for chairman Dave Whelan.
He broke his leg in the 1960 final playing for Blackburn against Wolves.
A moment that also broke his heart as it effectively ended his career as a
top-flight footballer.
Well, it was mended yesterday.
The prospect of relegation still looms for him and his beloved club. But those
worries were washed away yesterday as the trophy was lifted, the fireworks
went off and the tickertape came down.
It looked for all like we were heading for extra time when, in the 90th
minute, the excellent Callum McManaman yelled for a penalty under a
challenge from Gael Clichy but a corner was given instead.
Maloney swung the ball over and Watson stormed forward ahead of Jack Rodwell.
In a brilliant piece of football athleticism he took to the sky, twisted his
neck and sent a bullet header over Joe Hart’s thrusting hand and above
Sergio Aguero on the line.
The ball hit the far top corner of the net and Wigan’s fans behind that goal
had just witnessed the greatest moment of their lives following this club.
Hero Watson apparently hates the nickname Prince Harry for his likeness to the
royal.
Well they will be prefixing it with his Royal Highness as well after that leap
and goal.
But what of City?
A poor defence of their title and now this.
The least that was expected of Mancini this season was silverware.
He had delivered in 2011 when he ended the club’s 35-year trophy drought by
winning this competition with a 1-0 win against Stoke.
Then, 12 months ago, came that unforgettable moment when Aguero’s last-gasp
goal grabbed City their first title in 44 years.
At the start of this final the club’s faithful fans boomed out Mancini’s name
in support after speculation had grown overnight about his future.
At the final whistle those same fans were dumbstruck.
They did not know what had hit them.
Watson’s goal will obviously be the moment replayed again and again. But, as
with Sunderland’s 1973 triumph, there was also a Jim Montgomery moment.
Montgomery’s incredible save from Peter Lorimer in that final is remembered as
much by Sunderland fans as Porterfield’s goal.
Well, so will that of Joel Robles yesterday from Carlos Tevez in the 29th
minute.
Samir Nasri had found David Silva and when he pulled the ball back for Tevez
the City fans were already off their seats. The shot was a good one and
Robles was diving the wrong way but he stretched out his foot to deflect the
ball over the bar.
Tevez held his head in his hands and so did the 86,254 in the ground.
That was the best of the chances in the first half although Wigan had theirs,
too.
Man-of-the-match Callum McManaman had one when put through by a superb ball
from Arouna Kone.
He should have shot first time but decided to check back and his curled effort
was wide of the far post.
After the break, City were first to threaten when Aguero dashed to the near
post to meet a Tevez cross only for Emmerson Boyce to slide in and get his
toe to the ball first. But as the match entered its final stages Wigan
seemed to grow as history beckoned and City weakened.
A Maloney free-kick from outside the box on the right floated over Hart and
bounced off the bar.
With seven minutes to go Pablo Zabaleta was sent off when he received a second
yellow card after scything down McManaman.
Wigan could sense something special was about to happen.
Then as extra time beckoned Watson gave the new Wembley its most magical Cup
moment so far.
DREAM TEAM
SUN STAR MAN — CALLUM McMANAMAN (WIGAN)
MAN CITY: Hart 6, Zabaleta 4, Kompany 6, Nastasic 5, Clichy 4, Silva 5,
Y Toure 6, Barry 5 (Dzeko 5), Nasri 5 (Milner 5), Aguero 5, Tevez 5 (Rodwell
5). Subs not used: Pantilimon, Javi Garcia, Kolarov, Lescott. Sent Off:
Zabaleta. Booked: Zabaleta, Nastasic, Barry.
WIGAN: Robles 7, Boyce 6, Scharner 6, Alcaraz 7, Espinoza 6, McCarthy
7, McArthur 6, Gomez 6 (Watson 7), McManaman 9, Kone 5, Maloney 7. Subs not
used: Al Habsi, Caldwell, Di Santo, Henriquez, Fyvie, Golobart. Booked:
Robles.