The 2013 FA Cup final was an
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
match between
Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
and
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
on 11 May 2013 at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, organised by
the Football Association
The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
(FA). It marked the
132nd final of the
Football 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 defeated
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
,
Stoke City,
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.
Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
,
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
and
Chelsea; Wigan Athletic beat
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
(after a
replay),
Macclesfield Town,
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football.
Huddersfield Town we ...
,
Everton and
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...
.
The match
kicked off in the early evening in front of 86,254 spectators and was
refereed by
. After a goalless first half, Manchester City's
Pablo Zabaleta
Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (; born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a right back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player ...
was
sent off for a second
yellow card
Yellow card may refer to:
* Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas
* Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band
* Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...
, becoming the third player to be sent off in an FA Cup final. One minute into
injury time, Wigan Athletic won a
corner kick
A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...
which was taken by
Shaun Maloney
Shaun Richard Maloney (born 24 January 1983) is a Scottish association football, football coach, and former player. He was most recently the manager of club Wigan Athletic. Maloney played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, ...
:
Ben Watson outjumped
Jack Rodwell and
headed the ball over
Joe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper, and into the goal to secure a 1–0 win. The cup was jointly lifted by playing captain
Emmerson Boyce and club captain
Gary Caldwell. Wigan Athletic's
Callum McManaman was named as
man of the match
In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...
.
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 secured qualification for the
2013–14 Europa League competition after they had won their semi-final against Millwall. Two days after the final, Manchester City sacked manager
Roberto Mancini, confirming rumours of his fate before the match. Three days later, Wigan Athletic were
relegated
Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
from the Premier League following a 4–1 loss to
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, 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.
Background
The world's oldest football cup competition,
the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
is an annual
knockout tournament
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
involving professional and amateur men's
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
clubs in the
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...
. The final of the
2012–13 FA Cup
The 2012–13 FA Cup was the 132nd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world. It was sponsored by Budweiser for a second consecutive season, thus the ...
was the 132nd to be played since the tournament was first held in 1872.
[ ]Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
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
Events
January
* January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''.
* January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
* ...
, 1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
, 1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
, 1969
1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
and 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
) and were runners-up four times (1926
In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
, 1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
, 1955 and 1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
).[ Conversely, ]Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
were making their first appearance in an FA Cup Final since the club was founded in 1932.
Manchester City had won both Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
games between the sides during the regular season. They secured a 2–0 victory at the DW Stadium
The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...
in November 2012 with second-half goals from Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''Birth name, né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Genoa CFC, Genoa.
Balotelli started his ...
and James Milner and a 1–0 win the following April at the City of Manchester Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...
after a late goal from Carlos Tevez
Carlos Alberto Tevez (; né Martínez; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A dynamic forward (association football), forward in his prime, Tevez ...
. The final was being played before the last two games of the Premier League season, with Wigan Athletic in eighteenth place in the league, 40 points behind Manchester City in second position. Manchester City had beaten Wigan Athletic in each of the most recent seven Premier League matches between the sides.
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
Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...
led the scoring for Manchester City with 15 goals during the season, including 3 in the FA Cup.
Route to the final
Manchester City
As a Premier League team, Manchester City entered the 2012–13 FA Cup in the third round, in which they were drawn at home against EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...
team Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
. Midway through the first half, Tevez gave Manchester City the lead with a free kick from around . Costel Pantilimon then saved a Fernando Forestieri shot for Watford. One minute before half-time, Gareth Barry
Gareth Barry (born 23 February 1981) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mid Sussex League Championship side Hurstpierpoint. He made 653 Premier League appearances for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and ...
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 against fellow Premier League side Stoke City away at the Britannia Stadium
The bet365 Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the cl ...
. Despite long spells of possession for the visiting team, the first half ended goalless. David Silva
David Josué Jiménez Silva (born 8 January 1986) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played mainly as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central or an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder and o ...
struck the Stoke goalpost and Tevez saw shots saved by the Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen, before Pablo Zabaleta
Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (; born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a right back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player ...
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 side Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.
Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Yaya Touré
Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently an assistant coach for the Saudi Arabia national team.
Touré aspired to be a striker during h ...
gave Manchester City the lead in the fifth minute, taking the ball past Leeds United goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown and scoring after a pass from Tevez. 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 quarter-final, Manchester City's opponents were Championship club Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
at home. Tevez scored the first goal for Manchester City in the eleventh minute after Silva's volley rebounded off the goalpost. Aleksandar Kolarov
Aleksandar Kolarov (, ; born 10 November 1985) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a left back. He is the current assistant coach of Serie A club Inter Milan.
Kolarov began his career at Red Star Belgrade, but he did not br ...
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
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
, 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, Manchester City faced defending FA Cup champions Chelsea for the first time in the competition since 1971, the match being held at Wembley, a neutral venue
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to ga ...
. Ten minutes before half-time, Manchester City took the lead. Agüero's shot bounced off Chelsea's defender César Azpilicueta and the ball fell to Nasri who scored. Vincent Kompany
Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...
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 goalkeeper Petr Čech
Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and current ice hockey player who plays as a goaltender for Oxford City Stars. He has ...
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
Premier League side Wigan Athletic's FA Cup campaign also began in the third round, in which they faced League One side AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...
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 distance. Wigan Athletic hit the Bournemouth crossbar twice in the second half before they 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
Dean Court, currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307.
History
I ...
ten days later, the match was settled by a single goal: in the first half, Bournemouth's Harry Arter
Harry Nicholas Arter (born 28 December 1989) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder, central or defensive midfielder for Precision Football, Precision in the UAE Second Division League.
He began hi ...
conceded possession of the ball to Mauro Boselli
Mauro Boselli (born 22 May 1985) is an Argentine former professional association football, footballer who played as striker.
Boselli began his career at Argentine Primera División, Argentine First Division clubs Boca Juniors and Estudiantes d ...
whose shot from around flew into the top corner of the goal, securing a 1–0 win for Wigan Athletic. They were drawn against non-league
Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
team Macclesfield Town in the fourth round. To avoid postponement, snow had to be cleared from the pitch at Moss Rose
Moss Rose, known as The Leasing.com Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, which is the home ground of Macclesfield F.C., and the former home of Macclesfield Town F.C., a club wound up in Se ...
on the morning of the game. Six minutes into the match, Thierry Audel fouled Callum McManaman in the Macclesfield penalty area
The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. If any part of the ball is ove ...
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 which went straight to Wigan Athletic's debutant goalkeeper Joel 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.
In the fifth round, Wigan Athletic were drawn away against Championship team Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football.
Huddersfield Town we ...
. 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
James McFarlane McArthur (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder.
McArthur started his career at Hamilton Academical F.C., Hamil ...
. 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
Lee Paul Novak (born 28 September 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
A former youth team player for Wallsend Boys Club, he began his senior career with Scottish club Gretna, before returning to his h ...
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. Their quarter-final opponents were Premier League side Everton whom they faced at Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...
. 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 by Phil Neville
Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...
allowed him to take the ball past Everton's goalkeeper Ján Mucha
Ján Mucha (born 5 December 1982) is a Slovak former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is also involved in football trade unions as a footballing expert in the media.
Club career
Everton
In January 2010, Mucha signed a pr ...
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.
Wigan Athletic's fifth appearance at Wembley Stadium saw them face Championship side Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...
in the semi-final. In the first half, Koné's cross found Shaun Maloney
Shaun Richard Maloney (born 24 January 1983) is a Scottish association football, football coach, and former player. He was most recently the manager of club Wigan Athletic. Maloney played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, ...
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 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.
Match
Pre-match
Before the match, it was reported in ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' that manager Roberto Mancini's job was under threat after he failed to lead Manchester City to a defence of their league title. It was suggested that the Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
manager Manuel Pellegrini
Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...
was to be Mancini's successor. The referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...
for the match was who had officiated at Wembley Stadium twice previously, 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
In association football, an assistant referee (also known as a linesman) is an official who assists the referee in administering the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the Laws, at most organised levels ...
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, and Wigan Athletic 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 Joe Hart.[ 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."][ Manchester City had no injury problems, Touré being included in the team after suffering from a muscle problem.] Manchester City made eight changes to the starting line-up from their previous match, a Premier League game against West Bromwich
West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...
; only Hart, Nasri and Tevez keeping their place.[ ]Antolín Alcaraz
Antolín Alcaraz Viveros (born 30 July 1982) is a Paraguayan former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back.
He rarely settled with a team in his early career, bef ...
returned to the Wigan Athletic starting lineup after recovering from a torn hamstring in place of Gary Caldwell, and Figueroa was ruled out with a groin injury. Ben Watson dropped to the substitute's bench and was replaced by Gómez.[ Wigan Athletic adopted a 3–4–1–2 formation, and Manchester City played as a ]4–2–3–1
In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...
.
The kick-off time for the final was 5:15p.m. as opposed to the traditional 3p.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.[ The secretary of the Manchester City Supporters Club stated that "Not only does it show that he FAdon'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 2a.m. if they are travelling by coach." It was also the subject of a cross-party ]early day motion
In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate.
Hi ...
in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
.
Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan led out his team before kick-off along with manager Martínez. The traditional pre-match anthem, "Abide with Me
"Abide with Me" is a Christian hymn by Scottish Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847). A prayer for God to stay with the speaker throughout life and in death, it was written by Lyte in 1847 as he was dying from tuberculosis. It is m ...
", was performed by musical quartet Amore alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. The national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
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
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
.
Summary
First half
Wigan Athletic kicked off the match around 5:15p.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 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 , 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 was off-target before Matija 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 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 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 54th minute, Manchester City made the first substitution 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 the yellow card
Yellow card may refer to:
* Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas
* Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band
* Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...
after he committed a professional foul
''Professional Foul'' is a television play written by Czech-born, British playwright Tom Stoppard. It was broadcast on 21 September 1977 in BBC 2's ''Play of the Week'' series.
The play is set in Prague and follows the character of Profess ...
on McManaman who had made a break for Wigan Athletic. In the 64th minute, Gomez's shot from went over the Manchester City crossbar before Kompany tackled McManaman after the Wigan Athletic player had dribbled past both Silva and Gaël 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
Roger Aníbal Espinoza Ramírez (; born 25 October 1986) is a Honduran former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or defender. Espinoza currently serves as a youth coach for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City. A form ...
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 from the Manchester City goal. As a result, Zabaleta was sent 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 on Edin Džeko
Edin Džeko (; born 17 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains both Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is the all-time top goalscorer and most capped ...
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.[
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Details
Post-match
The cup was jointly lifted by playing captain Boyce and club captain Caldwell. Wigan Athletic's McManaman was named man of the match
In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...
. On 20 May, Wigan Athletic had an open-top bus tour of the town to celebrate the FA Cup victory. Zabaleta became the third player to be sent off in an FA Cup final, after Kevin Moran (in the 1985 final) and José Antonio Reyes (in 2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
). As FA Cup winners, Wigan Athletic received £1.8 million from the FA Cup Prize Fund, and Manchester City earned £900,000.
''Sporting Life'' described the win as the "biggest FA Cup final shock" since Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
's defeat of Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in the 1988 final. Other commentators went further with Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
, BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
and ''FourFourTwo
''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...
'' all saying it was one of the biggest shocks in the competition's history, and bookmaker
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds
In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...
William Hill agreeing.[ In a statistical analysis performed by '']Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'', the 2013 final was the tenth-biggest "surprise" result in the history of the FA Cup. European newspapers also commented on the shock result, ''La Gazzetta dello Sport
(; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018).
History and profile
was fou ...
'', ''Die Welt
(, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...
'' and ''Le Figaro
() is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'' all noting the historical significance of the event.
Wigan Athletic lost their next Premier League match, a 4–1 defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium
The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...
, and were consequently relegated
Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
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 they ended the season with a 2–0 victory at Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
followed by a 3–2 home defeat by Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
to finish second in the Premier League.
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 Athletic had already gained a place in the group stage of the 2013–14 Europa League competition by winning their semi-final match. They failed to progress to the knockout stage, finishing bottom of Group D Group D may refer to:
* FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars:
** Formula Two
** Formula Three
** Formula 3000
* One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup
** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D
** 2018 FIFA Worl ...
.
Pellegrini was appointed as the full-time replacement for Mancini in June 2013. Defender Joleon Lescott
Joleon Patrick Lescott (born 16 August 1982) is an English former professional association football, footballer, coach and sports pundit. He currently works as an interim coach with the England national football team, England senior team and pla ...
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". In early June, Wigan's manager Martínez left the club and joined Everton, being replaced at his former club by Owen Coyle
Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one appearanc ...
. The final drew a peak television audience of 9.4million. 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.[
Wigan Athletic defeated Manchester City again in the sixth round of the following season's FA Cup, winning 2–1 at the City of Manchester Stadium, but failed to retain the trophy after they lost in a ]penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
against Arsenal in the semi-final. The 2013 finalists met for a third FA Cup tie in the 2017–18 tournament where Wigan Athletic, then in League One (the third tier of English football), won the fifth round tie 1–0 at the DW Stadium, which was described by BBC Sport as "one of the biggest FA Cup giant-killings".
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Official match highlights
{{Wigan Athletic F.C. matches
Final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
Fa Cup Final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
Fa Cup Final 2013
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
Fa Cup Final 2013
Fa Cup Final 2013
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
Football competitions in London