City 3 - 0 Wigan

• It was a must win, and we won. But it was a strange game, and a microcosm of our season: a flat damp insipid performance that could have been punished but was not, and which was bailed out by the quality and tenacity of Carlos Tévez. Things were not exactly going to plan for the first hour, but the game hinged on the dismissal of Gary Caldwell and an error by Vladimir Stojković. Three nil looks good but the game was just as even as our 1-0 win last year. But all that matter are points now.

• The first hour was woeful. Mancini went for a Hughes-style 4-4-2, with two natural wingers in Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson. Nigel de Jong and Patrick Vieira were abandoned to play against Wigan's midfield three. They would have been outnumbered even had Patrick Vieira not been doing a Christian Negouai impression. But he did, and Wigan controlled possession and silenced the crowd. We looked lively enough on the break but it was not exactly the patient methodical fare we've grown used to under Mancini.

• With fifty five minutes gone I wasn't confident of our winning the game. When Tévez jumped over the ball with two feet and Caldwell scissored him I winced. When Stuart Attwell produced red I was upset, presuming it was for Tévez. But it wasn't - it was for Caldwell's clumsy tackle which looked like a yellow but no more. A real slice of luck, as bad a decision as Michael Turner's red in Mark Hughes' final game in charge. But it forced Wigan to change shape as Paul Scharner dropped back into defence.

• We started to dominate possession, just an hour after we should have started doing so. But we still needed Stojković to duck out of a 50/50 challenge with Adebayor and Tévez to roll the ball into the empty net. Ahead at home against ten men and the game was as good as done: we grew in confidence, moved the ball quicker and Tévez scored another two. His ability to create chances through force of will has rescued us from too many difficult situations this season.
  

• But for as long as he continues to do so we're in contention. We didn't look like a decent candidate for fourth position tonight, but it's a results business. I've written before about how strange it is seeing Mancini's City play in a way so antithetical to our traditions. This sort of point is often meant critically, but it's also true that winning ugly is immensely valuable; when Chelsea or United do it it's called 'ruthless efficiency.' I still don't think we'll get fourth but we've stayed in the race longer than I ever thought we would. Another must-win on Saturday.