Huge upset in the Premier League title race tonight as Manchester United lost 1-0 to Wigan, and Manchester City took advantage of the slip by their quiet neighbors to beat West Brom and move within five points of the league leader.
Wigan started the day in the relegation zone and not many of their fans gave them much of a chance against United, especially since they had never taken as much as a point off United in the Premier League. However, Roberto Martínez’s side totally outplayed United on the right and got the result they deserved when men Shaun Maloney scored off a short corner in the 50th minute. The win moved Wigan two points clear of the bottom three.
The mini-crisis at Manchester City appears to be over as they thrashed West Brom. City got off to the perfect start when Sergio Agüero scored early in either half and Carlos Tévez found the net for the first time in the league this season in a 4-0 triumph. David Silva wrapped up the points for a City side that still have to host the leaders during the run-in.
Elsewhere, third-placed Arsenal now have a five-point advantage over their pursuers after winning 3-0 at ten-man Wolves, who are bottom and are nine points from safety. With five games left, Wolves are all but relegated. The firing of Mike McCarthy will go down as the worst executive decision of the season.
Queens Park Rangers who looked dead and buried a couple of weeks ago, are out of the bottom three and level on points with Wigan after defeating Swansea City 3-0. This was QPR’s third straight win at Loftus Road, the kind of winning steak that might just keep them up.
This is how the relegation battle is looking with five games to go. Only three points separate four teams, and Aston Villa have to be careful that they are not dragged into this relegation dog fight.
| Aston Villa | 32 | 35 |
| QPR | 33 | 31 |
| Wigan | 33 | 31 |
| Bolton | 32 | 29 |
| Blackburn | 33 | 28 |
| Wolves | 33 | 22 |
