SHAUN Maloney curled home a superb second-half winner as Wigan breathed new life into the Premier League title race with a shock 1-0 win over Manchester United at the DW Stadium. With Manchester City completing a thumping 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad Stadium, United’s lead at the top is cut to five points with former Celtic forward Maloney skipping to the edge of the visiting box to send a lovely flighted finish beyond David De Gea.
In truth, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side got what they deserved from the match having turned in a listless display for much of the night.
Defeats end their eight-match winning sequence and a 12-match unbeaten run, but they must hope defeat does not have a lasting effect on their bid to defend their title.
United and City have five games remaining of the campaign with United still to visit their city neighbours on the penultimate match of the season on Monday, April 30, for a contest that could yet decide the destination of this year’s flag.
Wigan basked in a wonderful win. It was their first victory over United after 13 straight defeats in the Premier League.
They were unfortunate to have a goal disallowed on 30 minutes when Gary Caldwell was deemed to have fouled De Gea as Victor Moses rose to power a header into the net, but they never let their heads drop as United struggled for any fluency.
To sum up a pretty abject evening for the English champions, Wayne Rooney was hauled off on 62 minutes to be replaced by Nani as United struggled without the influence of Paul Scholes, who was rested after scoring and running the show in the 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
Rooney was guilty of switching off for the Wigan goal as Maloney worked a quick one-two with Jean Beausejour before leaving De Gea with no chance.
Wigan’s reward for their win sees them move out of the bottom three of the table. They are two points clear of third-bottom Bolton, and level on 31 points with QPR. (Eurosport)