 The match was played at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
| Event | 2012–13 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 11 May 2013 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic) | ||||||
| Referee | Andre Marriner (Birmingham) | ||||||
| Attendance | 86,254 | ||||||
←2012 2014 → | |||||||
The2013 FA Cup final was anassociation football match betweenManchester City andWigan Athletic on 11 May 2013 atWembley Stadium inLondon, England, organised bythe Football Association (FA). It marked the132nd final of theFootball Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup), the world's oldest football cup competition. It was Wigan's first FA Cup final and Manchester City's tenth. En route to the final, Manchester City defeatedWatford,Stoke City,Leeds United,Barnsley andChelsea; Wigan Athletic beatBournemouth (after areplay),Macclesfield Town,Huddersfield Town,Everton andMillwall.
The matchkicked off in the early evening in front of 86,254 spectators and wasrefereed byAndre Marriner. After a goalless first half, Manchester City'sPablo Zabaleta wassent off for a secondyellow card, becoming the third player to be sent off in an FA Cup final. One minute intoinjury time, Wigan Athletic won acorner kick which was taken byShaun Maloney:Ben Watson outjumpedJack Rodwell andheaded the ball overJoe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper, and into the goal to secure a 1–0 win. The cup was jointly lifted by playing captainEmmerson Boyce and club captainGary Caldwell. Wigan Athletic'sCallum McManaman was named asman of the match.
Manchester City and their semi-final opponent Chelsea had already qualified for thefollowing season's Champions League by virtue of the clubs' league positions. Wigan Athletic secured qualification for the2013–14 Europa League competition after they had won their semi-final against Millwall. Two days after the final, Manchester City sacked managerRoberto Mancini, confirming rumours of his fate before the match. Three days later, Wigan Athletic wererelegated from the Premier League following a 4–1 loss toArsenal, becoming the first club to take part in the FA Cup Final and be relegated from the highest tier of English football in the same season since Middlesbrough in 1997.
The world's oldest football cup competition,[1][2] theFA Cup is an annualknockout tournament involving professional and amateur men'sfootball clubs in theEnglish football league system.[3] The final of the2012–13 FA Cup was the 132nd to be played since the tournament was first held in 1872.[1]Manchester City were making their tenth appearance in an FA Cup final since the club was founded in 1880.[4] They had won the cup five times (in1904,1934,1956,1969 and2011) and were runners-up four times (1926,1933,1955 and1981).[5] Conversely,Wigan Athletic were making their first appearance in an FA Cup Final since the club was founded in 1932.[5][6]
Manchester City had won bothPremier League games between the sides duringthe regular season. They secured a 2–0 victory at theDW Stadium in November 2012 with second-half goals fromMario Balotelli andJames Milner and a 1–0 win the following April at theCity of Manchester Stadium after a late goal fromCarlos Tevez.[7][8][9] The final was being played before the last two games of the Premier League season,[10][11] with Wigan Athletic in eighteenth place in the league, 40 points behind Manchester City in second position.[12] Manchester City had beaten Wigan Athletic in each of the most recent seven Premier League matches between the sides.[13]
Wigan Athletic's leading scorer during the regular season wasArouna Koné who had 13 goals, 11 in the league and 2 in the FA Cup.[14]Sergio Agüero led the scoring for Manchester City with 15 goals during the season, including 3 in the FA Cup.[15]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Watford (H) | 3–0 |
| 4th | Stoke City (A) | 1–0 |
| 5th | Leeds United (H) | 4–0 |
| QF | Barnsley (H) | 5–0 |
| SF | Chelsea (N) | 2–1 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
As a Premier League team, Manchester City entered the 2012–13 FA Cup in the third round, in which they were drawn at home againstEFL Championship teamWatford. Midway through the first half, Tevez gave Manchester City the lead with afree kick from around 25 yards (23 m).Costel Pantilimon then saved aFernando Forestieri shot for Watford. One minute before half-time,Gareth Barry doubled Manchester City's lead with aheader. In second-halfstoppage time,Manchester City academy playerRony Lopes scored from close range to secure a 3–0 victory for his side.[16][17] In doing so, he became the club's youngest ever goalscorer at the age of seventeen years and eight days.[18] Manchester City progressed to a fourth round match against fellow Premier League sideStoke City away at theBritannia Stadium. Despite long spells of possession for the visiting team, the first half ended goalless.David Silva struck the Stoke goalpost and Tevez saw shots saved by the Stoke goalkeeperThomas Sørensen, beforePablo Zabaleta converted a cross from Agüero with four minutes remaining. Manchester City won the match 1–0 and progressed to the fifth round where they faced Championship sideLeeds United at the City of Manchester Stadium.[19]
Yaya Touré gave Manchester City the lead in the fifth minute, taking the ball past Leeds United goalkeeperJamie Ashdown and scoring after a pass from Tevez. Agüero then doubled his side's lead when he scored from thepenalty spot after he had been fouled byTom Lees. Tevez scored Manchester City's third from close range soon after half-time before Agüero scored 15 minutes from the end of the match to secure a 4–0 victory.[20] In the quarter-final, Manchester City's opponents were Championship clubBarnsley at home. Tevez scored the first goal for Manchester City in the eleventh minute after Silva'svolley rebounded off the goalpost.Aleksandar Kolarov and Tevez then scored in quick succession to make it 3–0 at half-time. Five minutes after the interval, Tevez completed hishat-trick, scoring fromSamir Nasri's pass. Midway through the second half, Silva scored after his initial shot was kept out by Barnsley goalkeeperLuke Steele to make it 5–0, which was the final score.[21]
In the semi-final, Manchester City faced defending FA Cup championsChelsea for the first time in the competition since 1971, the match being held at Wembley, aneutral venue.[22] Ten minutes before half-time, Manchester City took the lead. Agüero's shot bounced off Chelsea's defenderCésar Azpilicueta and the ball fell to Nasri who scored.Vincent Kompany then shot off-target shortly before half-time, and two minutes after the interval Barry's cross found Agüero, who headed the ball into the Chelsea goal off the post while goalkeeperPetr Čech remained motionless.Demba Ba then scored past Pantilimon to reduce the deficit for Chelsea but the match ended 2–1 and Manchester City progressed to the final.[23]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd Replay | AFC Bournemouth (H) AFC Bournemouth (A) | 1–1 0–1 |
| 4th | Macclesfield Town (A) | 1–0 |
| 5th | Huddersfield Town (A) | 4–1 |
| QF | Everton (A) | 3–0 |
| SF | Millwall (N) | 2–0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
Premier League side Wigan Athletic's FA Cup campaign also began in the third round, in which they facedLeague One sideAFC Bournemouth at the DW Stadium.Roberto Martínez made nine changes to the team that had played in the league four days earlier.[24]Eunan O'Kane scored for the visiting side towards the end of the first half with a strike from distance. Wigan Athletic hit the Bournemouth crossbar twice in the second half before they won a penalty afterSimon Francis fouledMaynor Figueroa in the area in the 70th minute.Shwan Jalal savedJordi Gómez's penalty kick but Gómez scored from the rebound to make it 1–1, and ensured the tie would need to be settled in areplay.[25] AtDean Court ten days later, the match was settled by a single goal: in the first half, Bournemouth'sHarry Arter conceded possession of the ball toMauro Boselli whose shot from around 20 yards (18 m) flew into the top corner of the goal, securing a 1–0 win for Wigan Athletic.[26] They were drawn againstnon-league teamMacclesfield Town in the fourth round. To avoid postponement, snow had to be cleared from the pitch atMoss Rose on the morning of the game. Six minutes into the match,Thierry Audel fouledCallum McManaman in the Macclesfieldpenalty area and Gómez scored the resulting penalty to give Wigan Athletic the lead. The home side had several opportunities to score, including a header from Audel from 6 yards (5.5 m) which went straight to Wigan Athletic's debutant goalkeeperJoel Robles. Macclesfield's appeals for a penalty late in the match were turned down by the referee and Wigan Athletic won 1–0. Victory gave them their second appearance in the fifth round of the FA Cup since the founding of the club.[27]
In the fifth round, Wigan Athletic were drawn away against Championship teamHuddersfield Town. McManaman gave the visiting side the lead in the 31st minute, shooting into the top corner of the goal after a pass fromJames McArthur. Five minutes before half-time, Koné doubled his side's lead after Gómez had passed from a McManaman cross before McArthur made it 3–0 when he scored in the 56th minute.Lee Novak scored with a header from aCalum Woods cross to reduce Huddersfield Town's deficit but with a minute of the match remaining, Koné scored his second to secure a 4–1 win for Wigan Athletic.[28] Their quarter-final opponents were Premier League sideEverton whom they faced atGoodison Park. Wigan Athletic scored three goals within four minutes in the first half: just after half an hour, Wigan Athletic's Figueroa opened the scoring when he headed in a corner. McManaman then doubled the lead when a mistake byPhil Neville allowed him to take the ball past Everton's goalkeeperJán Mucha and shoot. Gómez then struck a long-range shot into the Everton goal to make it 3–0, the final score. The win ensured Wigan Athletic would play in the first FA Cup semi-final appearance in the club's history.[29]
Wigan Athletic's fifth appearance at Wembley Stadium saw them face Championship sideMillwall in the semi-final. In the first half, Koné's cross foundShaun Maloney who volleyed the ball pastDavid Forde in the Millwall goal to give Wigan Athletic the lead. With twelve minutes of the match remaining, Wigan Athletic broke out of defence and Gómez's pass found McManaman who took the ball round Forde to double his side's lead. Wigan Athletic won the match 2–0 and progressed to the first FA Cup final in the club's history.[30]
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Before the match, it was reported inThe Daily Telegraph that managerRoberto Mancini's job was under threat after he failed to lead Manchester City to a defence of their league title. It was suggested that theMálaga managerManuel Pellegrini was to be Mancini's successor.[31] Thereferee for the match wasAndre Marriner who had officiated at Wembley Stadium twice previously, at the2010 FA Community Shield and the2010 Football League Championship play-off final. He wasassisted by Stephen Child and Simon Long,Anthony Taylor was thefourth official and Gary Beswick acted as thereserve assistant referee.[32]
Manchester City were considered strong favourites to win the match by the British media.[33][34] Wigan Athletic wore the club's black awaykit for the final, used the away team dressing room and were allocated the East End of the stadium. Manchester City fans occupied the West End and the team played in their home kit after winning the coin toss to decide who would wear which kit.[35] Ticket prices for the final started at £45 and were available at £65, £85 and £115, with a £10 discount for concessions.[36] Manchester City received an initial allocation of 25,000 tickets, later increased to 31,779, and Wigan Athletic requested 21,000 tickets, later increased to a 25,000 allocation.[37][38]
Despite expectations in the media that Pantilimon would retain his position as the Manchester City goalkeeper for the final, he was dropped to the substitute's bench in place ofJoe Hart.[34][39] Before the match, Mancini said "I decided this because I wanted this for this game but it doesn't change anything ... We know Costel is a good keeper."[40] Manchester City had no injury problems, Touré being included in the team after suffering from a muscle problem.[41][42] Manchester City made eight changes to the starting line-up from their previous match, a Premier League game againstWest Bromwich; only Hart, Nasri and Tevez keeping their place.[40][43]Antolín Alcaraz returned to the Wigan Athletic starting lineup after recovering from atorn hamstring in place ofGary Caldwell, and Figueroa was ruled out with a groin injury.[40][42][44][45]Ben Watson dropped to the substitute's bench and was replaced by Gómez.[40][45] Wigan Athletic adopted a 3–4–1–2 formation,[46] and Manchester City played as a4–2–3–1.[47]
The kick-off time for the final was 5:15 p.m. as opposed to the traditional 3 p.m. This was controversial, particularly with regard to both sets of supporters facing difficulties in guaranteeing train transport back to the North West of England after the match.[48] The secretary of the Manchester City Supporters Club stated that "Not only does it show that [the FA] don't care but it shows that they don't know", and a spokesperson for the Wigan Athletic Supporters Club noted that "The FA don't think about stuff like young children of four or six years old potentially not getting home till 2 a.m. if they are travelling by coach."[49] It was also the subject of a cross-partyearly day motion in theHouse of Commons.[50]
Wigan Athletic ownerDave Whelan led out his team before kick-off along with manager Martínez.[40][51] The traditional pre-match anthem, "Abide with Me", was performed by musical quartet Amore alongside theRoyal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Thenational anthem was also performed by Amore with theBand of the Grenadier Guards.[52] Paralympic footballerDave Clarke andDavid Bernstein, chairman of the FA, were introduced to the teams prior tokick-off.[40] In the United Kingdom, the match was televised byITV andESPN.[32]
Wigan Athletic kicked off the match around 5:15 p.m. in front of a crowd of 86,254.[53] Two minutes into the game, Zabaleta made a run down the right wing and crossed the ball, which took a deflection before falling to Silva whose volley was blocked by McArthur. Agüero was then fouled by Alcaraz on the edge of the Wigan Athletic penalty area but Tevez's subsequent free kick was blocked with the ball finding Touré whose shot was pushed away by Robles. In the ninth minute, Wigan Athletic's McManaman made a run down the right-hand side of the pitch after a pass from Koné. He cut inside and struck the ball from around 8 yards (7 m), but his shot went wide of the Manchester City post. Wigan Athletic then enjoyed a spell of pressure before Silva's 18th-minute shot for Manchester City was blocked. Midway through the half, Maloney's shot from around 30 yards (27 m) was off-target beforeMatija Nastasić failed to score with a long-range strike for Manchester City. In the 29th minute, Silva passed the ball into the Wigan Athletic penalty area and found Tevez, who stretched to shoot, but Robles made a save with his boot. Tevez's shot from the corner of the Wigan Athletic penalty area was too high before Gomez's strike from 25 yards (23 m) was blocked by Kompany. With nine minutes of the half remaining, Alcaraz ran through the middle of the pitch and passed to McManaman who went round Nastasić, before his shot was blocked by Zabaleta. Nasri's cross was then headed off-target by Silva. In the 41st minute, Zabaleta's shot was blocked but the ball fell to Barry whose curling strike was saved by Robles. Just before half-time, Robles saved Nasri's 20-yard (18 m) shot and the half ended 0–0.[40]
Neither side made any changes to their playing personnel during the interval and Manchester City kicked off the second half. Two minutes in, McCarthy's shot was wide before Agüero's attempt to score was defended byEmmerson Boyce. A corner from Barry was then headed onto the roof of the Wigan Athletic net by Kompany. In the 54th minute, Manchester City made the firstsubstitution of the game with Milner coming on to replace Nasri. On the hour mark, Zabaleta became the first player of the match to be shown theyellow card after he committed aprofessional foul on McManaman who had made a break for Wigan Athletic. In the 64th minute, Gomez's shot from 25 yards (23 m) went over the Manchester City crossbar before Kompany tackled McManaman after the Wigan Athletic player haddribbled past both Silva andGaël Clichy. Five minutes later,Jack Rodwell was brought on in place of Tevez in Manchester City's second change of the game. In the 72nd minute,Roger Espinoza fouled Milner who took the resulting free kick himself, from which Rodwell's header was straight at Robles. Nastasić was then booked for a foul on McManaman before Maloney's cross struck the Manchester City crossbar. In the 81st minute, Wigan Athletic made their first substitution, with Ben Watson coming on to replace Gomez. Three minutes later, Kompany received a poor pass from Clichy in the centre circle which Koné intercepted. He passed to McManaman who was fouled by Zabaleta around 30 yards (27 m) from the Manchester City goal. As a result, Zabaleta wassent off after receiving a second booking, and became the third player to be dismissed in an FA Cup final. Barry was then shown the yellow card for bringing down Maloney. In the final minute of the match, Wigan Athletic won a corner which was played in by Maloney. Watson beat Rodwell to the ball at the near post and headed it inside the far post of the goal to give Wigan Athletic the lead. Three minutes into stoppage time, Robles was booked for time-wasting and Manchester City brought onEdin Džeko for Barry. A minute later, the final whistle was blown and Wigan Athletic had won the match 1–0, securing the FA Cup for the first time in their history.[40]
| Manchester City | 0–1 | Wigan Athletic |
|---|---|---|
| Report,Statistics,Manchester City squad numbers,Wigan Athletic squad numbers | Watson 90+1' |
        Manchester City |    Wigan Athletic |
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Man of the match
Match officials | Match rules
|
.JPG)
| Manchester City | Wigan Athletic | |
|---|---|---|
| Total shots | 15 | 15 |
| Shots on target | 12 | 7 |
| Ball possession | 52% | 48% |
| Corner kicks | 5 | 3 |
| Fouls committed | 11 | 5 |
| Offsides | 4 | 2 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 1 |
| Red cards | 1 | 0 |
The cup was jointly lifted by playing captain Boyce and club captain Caldwell.[57] Wigan Athletic's McManaman was namedman of the match.[55] On 20 May, Wigan Athletic had an open-top bus tour of the town to celebrate the FA Cup victory.[58] Zabaleta became the third player to be sent off in an FA Cup final, afterKevin Moran (in the1985 final) andJosé Antonio Reyes (in2005).[59][60][61] As FA Cup winners, Wigan Athletic received £1.8 million from the FA Cup Prize Fund, and Manchester City earned £900,000.[62]
Sporting Life described the win as the "biggest FA Cup final shock" sinceWimbledon's defeat ofLiverpool in the1988 final.[63] Other commentators went further withFox Sports,BBC Sport andFourFourTwo all saying it was one of the biggest shocks in the competition's history, andbookmakerWilliam Hill agreeing.[64][65][66][67] In a statistical analysis performed byForbes, the 2013 final was the tenth-biggest "surprise" result in the history of the FA Cup.[68] European newspapers also commented on the shock result,La Gazzetta dello Sport,Die Welt andLe Figaro all noting the historical significance of the event.[69][70][71]
Wigan Athletic lost their next Premier League match, a 4–1 defeat against Arsenal at theEmirates Stadium, and were consequentlyrelegated to the Championship. In doing so, they became the first club ever to have won the FA Cup and be relegated from the highest tier of English football in the same season.[72] Mancini was dismissed days after the final with the club owners citing that he had "failed to achieve any of the club's targets, with the exception of qualification for next season's Champions League".[73] His assistant,Brian Kidd, took temporary charge of the club and they ended the season with a 2–0 victory atReading followed by a 3–2 home defeat byNorwich City to finish second in the Premier League.[74][75]
Because Manchester City and their semi-final opponent Chelsea had already qualified for the following season'sChampions League by virtue of their league positions, Wigan Athletic had already gained a place in the group stage of the2013–14 Europa League competition by winning their semi-final match.[76] They failed to progress to the knockout stage, finishing bottom ofGroup D.[77]
Pellegrini was appointed as the full-time replacement for Mancini in June 2013.[78] DefenderJoleon Lescott later reflected that "it was a little bit weird on the morning of the final. We were eating breakfast together and the TVs were on with Sky Sports News reporting that Mancini was going to get sacked".[64] In early June, Wigan's manager Martínez left the club and joinedEverton, being replaced at his former club byOwen Coyle.[79][80] The final drew a peak television audience of 9.4 million.[48] Despite the criticism of the early evening kick-off time, the BBC confirmed that subsequent finals would be started at a similar time as part of their new deal to broadcast the final from 2014. However, the broadcaster agreed to schedule the match as the last game of the domestic season.[48]
Wigan Athletic defeated Manchester City again in the sixth round of thefollowing season's FA Cup, winning 2–1 at the City of Manchester Stadium,[81] but failed to retain the trophy after they lost in apenalty shoot-out against Arsenal in the semi-final.[82] The 2013 finalists met for a third FA Cup tie in the2017–18 tournament where Wigan Athletic, then inLeague One (thethird tier of English football), won the fifth round tie 1–0 at the DW Stadium,[83] which was described by BBC Sport as "one of the biggest FA Cup giant-killings".[84]
