2013 FA Cup Final

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The **2013 FA Cup Final** was an association football match between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, organised by the Football Association (FA). It marked the 132nd final of the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) and was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition. It was Wigan's first FA Cup final and Manchester City's tenth. Ben Watson's stoppage-time headed goal produced the "greatest FA Cup Final upset for a quarter of a century". In the United Kingdom, the match was televised by ITV and ESPN.

The only goal of the game came a few minutes after City's Pablo Zabaleta had been sent off for a second yellow card, becoming the third player to be sent off in an FA Cup final. The cup was jointly lifted by playing captain Emmerson Boyce and club captain Gary Caldwell.

Because Manchester City and their semi-final opponent Chelsea had already qualified for the following season's Champions League by virtue of the clubs' league positions, Wigan Athletic won a place in the group stage of the 2013–14 Europa League competition.

On 20 May, Wigan had an open-top bus tour of the town to celebrate the FA Cup victory. Manchester City sacked manager Roberto Mancini two days later, confirming rumours of the manager's fate before the match. Wigan failed to avoid relegation from the Premier League, becoming the first team to win the Cup and succumb to relegation in the same season.

## Background

The FA Cup is an annual knockout tournament involving professional and amateur men's football clubs in the English football league system.Template:Sfn It is the world's oldest football cup competition. The 2016 final was the 135th final to be played since it was first held in 1872.

Manchester City had won both league games between the sides during the regular season, with a 2–0 victory at the DW Stadium in November 2012 followed by 1–0 win the following April at the City of Manchester Stadium. Wigan Athletic's leading scorer during the regular season was Arouna Koné who had 13 goals, 11 in the league and 2 in the FA Cup. Sergio Agüero led the scoring for Manchester City with 15 goals during the season, including 3 in the FA Cup. Manchester City were making their tenth appearance in an FA Cup Final since the club was founded in 1880. They had won the cup five times (in 1904, 1934, 1956, 1969 and 2011) and were runners-up four times (1926, 1933, 1955 and 1981). Conversely, Wigan Athletic were making their first appearance in an FA Cup Final since the club was founded in 1932.

### Manchester City

Manchester City's route to the final
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 5th
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As a Premier League team, Manchester City entered the 2012–13 FA Cup in the third round where they were drawn at home against Watford. Midway through the first half, Carlos Tevez gave Manchester City the lead with a free kick from around Template:Convert. Costel Pantilimon then denied Fernando Forestieri a goal-scoring opportunity for Watford. One minute before half-time, Gareth Barry doubled Manchester City's lead with a header. In second-half stoppage time, Manchester City academy player Rony Lopes scored from close range to secure a 3–0 victory for his side. In doing so, he became the club's youngest ever goalscorer at the age of seventeen years and eight days. Manchester City progressed to a fourth round match at the Britannia Stadium where they played Stoke City. 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 goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen, before Pablo Zabaleta converted a cross from Thomas Sorenson with four minutes remaining. Manchester City won the match 1–0 and progressed to the fifth round.

There they faced Championship side Leeds United at the City of Manchester Stadium. Yaya Touré opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Tevez's pass to him allowed him to take the ball past Leeds United goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown and score. Agüero then doubled his side's lead when he scored from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Tom 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. In the fifth round, Manchester City's opponents were Championship club Barnsley at home. Tevez scored the first goal for Manchester City after eleven minutes after David Silva's volley 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 his hat-trick scoring from Samir Nasri's pass. Midway through the second half, Silva scored after his initial shot was kept out by Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele to make it 5–0, which was the final score.

In the semi-final, City faced defending FA Cup champions Chelsea at Wembley, a neutral venue, for the fourth time in the FA Cup, and the first time since 1971. Ten minutes before half-time, Manchester City took the lead. Agüero's shot bounced off Chelsea's goalkeeeper César Azpilicueta and the ball fell to Nasri who scored. Vincent Kompany then shot off-target before half-time before two minutes after the interval Gareth Barry's cross found Agüero who headed the ball into the Chelsea goal off the post while goalkeeper Petr 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.

### Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic's route to the final
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 6th
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 File:Roberto martinez.jpg
Premier League side Wigan Athletic's FA Cup campaign also began in the third round where they faced League One side AFC Bournemouth at the DW Stadium. Roberto Martínez made nine changes to the team that had played in the league four days earlier. Eunan O'Kane scored for the visiting side towards the end of the first half with a strike from outside the Wigan Athletic penalty area. Wigan Athletic dominated the second half and won a penalty after Simon Francis fouled Maynor Figueroa in the area in the 70th minute. Shwan Jalal saved Jordi 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 a replay. At Dean Court ten days later, the match was settled by a single goal: in the first half, Bournemouth's Harry Arter conceded possession of the ball to Mauro Boselli whose shot from around Template:Convert flew into the top corner of the goal, securing a 1–0 win for Wigan Athletic. Wigan were drawn against non-league team Macclesfield Town in the fourth round. To avoid postponement, snow had to be cleared from the pitch at Moss Rose on the morning of the game. Six minutes into the match, Thierry Audel fouled Callum McManaman in the Macclesfield penalty 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 Template:Convert which went straight to Wigan's debutant goalkeeper Joel Robles. Macclesfield's appeal 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 FA Cup Fifth round since the founding of the club in 1932.

In the fifth round, Wigan Athletic were drawn away against Huddersfield Town. McManaman gave the visiting side the lead in the 31st minute, shooting into the top corner of the goal after a pass from James 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 a Calum 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. Wigan Athletic's quarter-final opponents were Premier League side Everton who they faced at Goodison Park. Wigan Athletic scored three goals within four minutes in the first half to secure victory. Just after half an hour, Figueroa opened the scoring when he headed in a Wigan Athletic corner. McManaman then doubled the lead after a mistake from Phil Neville allowed him to take the ball past Everton's goalkeeper Ján Mucha before shooting. Gómez then struck a long-range shot into the Everton goal to make it 3–0, the final score. The win ensured Wigan would play in the first FA Cup semi-final appearance in the club's history.

Wigan Athletic's fifth appearance at Wembley Stadium saw them faced Championship side Millwall in the semi-final. In the first half, Koné's cross found Shaun Maloney who volleyed the ball past David Forde in the Millwall goal to give Wigan Athletic the lead. With twelve minutes of the match remaining, Wigan Athletic broke with Koné bringing the ball out of defence before 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.

## Match

### Pre-match

 File:Roberto Mancini - Lech - Manchester 005 (cropped).jpg
Before the match, it was reported in *The Daily Telegraph* that Roberto Mancini's job was under threat after failing to lead Manchester City to a defence of their league title. It was suggested that the Málaga manager Manuel Pellegrini was to be Mancini's successor.

The referee for the match was Andre Marriner who had previously twice officiated at Wembley Stadium, at the 2010 FA Community Shield and the 2010 Football League Championship play-off Final. He was assisted by Stephen Child and Simon Long, Anthony Taylor was the fourth official and Gary Beswick acted as the reserve assistant referee. Manchester City were considered strong favourites to win the match by the British media. Wigan Athletic wore the club's black away kit 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. Ticket prices for the final started at £45 and were available at £65, £85 and £115, with a £10 discount for concessions. Manchester City received an initial allocation of 25,000 tickets, later increased to 31,779, while Wigan requested 21,000 tickets, later increased to a 25,000 allocation.

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 of Hart. Wigan owner Dave Whelan led out the Wigan team before kick off along with manager Roberto Martínez. Before the match, Mancini suggested "I decided this because I wanted this for this game but it doesn't change anythingTemplate:Nbsp... We know Costel is a good keeper." The traditional pre-match anthem, "Abide with Me", was performed by musical quartet Amore alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. The national anthem was also performed by Amore with the Band of the Grenadier Guards. Paralympic footballer Dave Clarke and David Bernstein, chairman of the FA, were introduced to the teams prior to kick-off. In the United Kingdom, the match was televised by ITV and ESPN. Wigan Athletic adopted a 3–4–3 formation while Manchester City played as a 4–2–3–1.

### Summary

#### First half

Wigan Athletic kicked off the match around 5:15Template:Nbspp.m. in front of a crowd of 86,254. 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 Antolín Alcaraz on the edge of the Wigan penalty area but Tevez's subsequent free kick was blocked with the ball finding Touré: his shot was pushed away by Joel. In the ninth minute, Wigan's McManaman made a run down the right-hand side of the pitch after a pass from Koné, before cutting inside and striking the ball from around Template:Convert, his shot went wide of the Manchester City post. Wigan Athletic then enjoyed a spell of pressure before Silva's 18th-minute shot was blocked for Manchester City. Midway through the half, Maloney's shot from around Template:Convert was off-target before Manchester City's Matija Nastasić's long-range strike was also wayward. In the 29th minute, Silva passed the ball into the Wigan penalty area and found Tevez who stretched to shoot, with Joel making a save with his boot. Tevez's shot from the corner of the Wigan penalty area was too high before Gomez's strike from Template:Convert 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 Joel. Just before half-time, Joel saved Nasri's Template:Convert shot and the half ended 0–0.

#### Second half

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 by Emmerson Boyce. A corner from Barry was then headed onto the roof of the Wigan Athletic net by Kompany. In the 55th minute, Manchester City made the first substitution of the game with James Milner coming on to replace Nasri. On the hour mark, Zabaleta became the first player of the match to be shown the yellow card after he committed a professional foul on McManaman who had made a break for Wigan Athletic. In the 64th minute, Gomez's shot from Template:Convert went over the Manchester City crossbar before Kompany tackled McManaman after the Wigan Athletic player had dribbled past both Silva and 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 Joel. 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, Manchester City were reduced to ten players when Zabaleta was sent off for a foul on McManaman, before Barry was 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, Joel was booked for time-wasting and Manchester City brought on Edin Džeko for Barry. A minute later, the final whistle was blown and Wigan Athletic won the match 1–0, securing the FA Cup for the first time in their history.

### Details

Team colours

File:Kit body.svg

File:Kit right arm.svg

File:Kit shorts.svg

File:Kit socks long.svg

**Manchester City**

File:Kit left arm.svg

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File:Kit right arm.svg

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**Wigan Athletic**

* Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic)

**Match officials**
* Assistant referees:
	+ Stephen Child (London)
	+ Simon Long (Cornwall)
* Fourth official: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
* Reserve official: Gary Beswick (Durham)
* 90 minutes.
* 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
* Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
* Seven named substitutes.
* Maximum of three substitutions.

 File:Ben Watson in Pittsburg (cropped).JPG

Statistics
 Shots on target
 Ball possession
 Corner kicks
 Fouls committed
 Offsides
 Yellow cards
 Red cards

## Post-match

The cup was jointly lifted by playing captain Emmerson Boyce and club captain Gary Caldwell. Wigan Athletic's McManaman was named man of the match. City's Zabaleta became the third player to be sent off in an FA Cup final. As FA Cup winners, Wigan Athletic received £1.8 million from the FA Cup Prize Fund, while Manchester City earned £900,000. Wigan Athletic also were awarded a place in the group stage of the 2013–14 Europa League competition. Because Manchester City and their semi-final opponent Chelsea had already qualified for the following season's Champions League by virtue of their league positions, Wigan had gained a Europa League place by winning their semi-final match.

Wigan lost their next Premier League match, against Arsenal, succumbing to a 4–1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium and were consequently relegated 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. 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". His assistant, Brian Kidd, took temporary charge of the club and although they ended the season with a 2–0 victory at Reading followed by 3–2 home defeat by Norwich City to finish second in the Premier League. Pellegrini was appointed as the full-time replacement for Mancini in June 2013. Defender Joleon 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". On 20 May, Wigan had an open-top bus tour of the town to celebrate the FA Cup victory.

## References

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 FA Cup Finals, 1872 – today. The Football Association.
2. ↑ Blitz, Sam (3 August 2020). Who has won the most FA Cups? The 12 most successful clubs in the world's oldest competition. *FourFourTwo*.
3. ↑ Manchester City football club: record v Wigan Athletic. AFS Enterprises.
4. ↑ Wigan squad details – 2012/2013 – Player appearances. Centurycomm.
5. ↑ Man City squad details – 2012/2013 – Player appearances. Centurycomm.
6. ↑ Cup Final Results. The Football Association.
7. ↑ Man City 3–0 Watford. BBC Sport (5 January 2013).
8. ↑ Manchester City 3–0 Watford. Eurosport (5 January 2013).
9. ↑ Curtis, Simon (9 October 2013). A young star with a bright future – Marcos Lopes. ESPN.
10. ↑ Magowan, Alistair (5 January 2013). Stoke 0–1 Man City. BBC Sport.
11. ↑ McNulty, Phil (17 February 2013). Man City 4–0 Leeds United. BBC Sport.
12. ↑ Bevan, Chris (9 March 2013). Man City 5–0 Barnsley. BBC Sport.
13. ↑ Bagchi, Rob (12 April 2013). Chelsea and Manchester City bring rarity value to FA Cup semi-final. *The Guardian*.
14. ↑ McNulty, Phil (14 April 2013). Chelsea 1–2 Man City. BBC Sport.
15. ↑ Hughes, Si (5 January 2013). Wigan Athletic 1 Bournemouth 1: match report. *The Daily Telegraph*.
16. ↑ Wigan 1–1 Bournemouth. BBC Sport (5 January 2013).
17. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
18. ↑ Bevan, Chris (26 January 2013). Macclesfield 0–1 Wigan. BBC Sport.
19. ↑ Magowan, Alistair (17 February 2013). Huddersfield 1–4 Wigan. BBC Sport.
20. ↑ McNulty, Phil (9 March 2013). Everton 0–3 Wigan. BBC Sport.
21. ↑ McNulty, Phil (13 April 2013). Millwall 0–2 Wigan. BBC Sport.
22. ↑ Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini on the brink as club close in on Malaga's Manuel Pellegrini. *The Daily Telegraph* (10 May 2013).
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 Marriner takes charge of final. The Football Association (17 April 2013). Archived from the original on April 19, 2014.
24. ↑ Jackson, Jamie (11 May 2013). Manchester City v Wigan Athletic Today 5.15pm ESPN & ITV. *The Guardian*.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Ley, John (11 May 2013). Manchester City v Wigan Athletic: FA Cup final match preview. *The Daily Telegraph*.
26. ↑ Latics in black for final. Wigan Athletic F.C. (16 April 2013).
27. ↑ 2013 FA Cup Final Ticket Prices. The Football Association (17 April 2013).
28. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
29. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
30. ↑ Bevan, Chris (10 May 2013). FA Cup final: Man City's Costel Pantilimon set to get big chance. BBC Sport.
31. ↑ Rostance, Tom (11 May 2013). 2013 FA Cup Final: As it happened. BBC Sport.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Steinberg, Jacob (11 May 2013). Manchester City v Wigan: FA Cup final – as it happened. *The Guardian*.
33. ↑ 2013 FA Cup Final day schedule. The Football Association (11 May 2013).
34. ↑ Kay, Oliver (13 May 2013). Wigan's fairytale triumph rekindles fading romance. *The Times* 90–91.
35. ↑ Manchester City v Wigan Athletic, 11 May 2013. AFS Enterprises.
36. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
37. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Veevers, Nicholas (11 May 2013). Cup wonder for Wigan. The Football Association.
39. ↑ **Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".**
40. ↑ Stone, Simon (19 June 2013). FA Cup final to take place after the end of the Premier League season. *The Independent*.
41. ↑ Bloom, Ben (11 May 2013). FA Cup final – Manchester City v Wigan Athletic: live. *The Daily Telegraph*.
42. ↑ 2013 FA Cup Final. Wembley Stadium (11 May 2013).
43. ↑ FA Cup final to see Wigan write new chapter. UEFA (15 April 2013).
44. ↑ Arsenal 4–1 Wigan. BBC Sport (14 May 2013).
45. ↑ Roberto Mancini: Manchester City sack manager. BBC Sport (14 May 2013).
46. ↑ Rose, Gary (14 May 2013). Reading 0–2 Manchester City. BBC Sport.
47. ↑ Shemilt, Stephan (19 May 2013). Manchester City 2–3 Norwich City. BBC Sport.
48. ↑ Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City appoint Chilean as manager. BBC Sport (14 June 2013).
49. ↑ Bevan, Chris (11 May 2020). The inside story of Wigan's win over Manchester City in the 2013 final. BBC Sport.
50. ↑ Wigan Athletic in FA Cup bus parade. BBC News (20 May 2013).
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## External links

* Official match highlights

Template:FA Cup seasons
Template:2012–13 in English football
Template:Manchester City F.C. matches
Template:Wigan Athletic F.C. matches