Carlos Tevez scores a hat trick and should find himself back in contention for an Argentina spot. But more importantly, it gives City a shot at finishing fourth and justifying its record spending spree. All the goals came late in the second half after Gay Caldwell was dubiously sent off for a tackle on Tevez. Till then the match was drifting off into a stalemate with Wigan looking quite enterprising in spells.
The first goal was all his as he lays of a pass to Patrick Vieira whose entry splits the City defense. Vladimir Stojkovic, Chris Kirkland’s fill in makes a complete mess of a simple collection as he clumsily tries to block the ball which spins away from him and finds both Adebayor and Tevez. As Stojkovic goes to the ground, the Argentinian gets to it first. The Wigan defense protest as they believe Stojkovic was fouled.
The second goal comes from a corner quickly controlled by Garrido who lays a pass into the box deftly flicked on by Kompany to find Tevez at the far post with Stojkovic hopelessly out of position.
The third goal (Video) was all Tevez who skips past a defender and then spots Stojkovic moving to the near post and just before being challenged sweetly places his shot past the Wigan goalie. A very cool finish. And a very forgetful debut for Stojkovic.
City now lie two points behind Spurs in a dogfight for a fourth place with Liverpool sitting right on their haunches setting up a fascinating race to the top four.