Manchester United and Wigan Athletic have one of the more minor rivalries in the north west of England, with every smaller club in the region desperate to get a win over nearby giants like the Red Devils, Liverpool or Manchester City.
With Wigan shifting between the Championship and League One in recent years, clashes between the two sides are a lot less frequent than they were in the past. It’s a rivalry almost entirely dominated by Man Utd, with the Latics only ever winning a single match against the Red Devils.
However, there have also been an abnormal number of trophy-clinching games between the two teams despite Wigan boasting a more modest background compared to United’s trophy-filled history.
Here’s the complete head-to-head record between Man Utd and Wigan as well as five of the biggest matches between them.
In the 2005/06 season, Wigan reached the final of the League Cup, known then as the Carling Cup. Man Utd were only 1-0 up when the half-time whistle came with Wigan still in the contest, but the superiority of the Red Devils soon showed.
Second-half goals from Louis Saha, Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha effectively ended the contest at 4-0 with half an hour still to play, earning just their second ever League Cup.
Two years later, Man Utd found themselves securing another trophy against Wigan. This time, it was the Premier League and they did it in front of 25,000 fans at what was then called the JJB Stadium.
Man Utd went into the match on the final day of the season knowing a win would be enough to keep Chelsea at bay and clinch their 17th league title, beating the Blues to top spot by two points. The scoring was opened from the penalty spot by Ronaldo before Ryan Giggs grabbed the other goal of the game.
That title-clinching strike sent Sir Alex Ferguson running down the touchline towards the away end. Giggs also equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s Man Utd appearance record that day.
Man Utd found themselves back in Wigan towards the end of the following season chasing another league title.
It was an ugly performance befitting of champions but not without jeopardy. Hugo Rodallega had put Wigan ahead in the first half before Carlos Tevez equalising with half an hour to go. Things were starting to get quite desperate for Man Utd until Michael Carrick smashed in the winner in the 86th minute.
The 2-1 victory put United within just one point of glory and Ferguson’s side would go on to win their third successive Premier League title that season. What made this particular title even sweeter for Man Utd is that Liverpool were the team that ended up second.
Given there is only one instance of Wigan beating Man Utd in the history books, we had to include it.
Shaun Maloney scored the only goal of the game with a strike from 20 yards, but there was a bigger picture with three teams directly affected by the Latics’ victory.
Wigan were embroiled in a relegation battle and managed to escape the drop thanks in part to this victory, but Man Utd’s defeat allowed title rivals Manchester City to close the gap at the top to five points.
The Cityzens would famously win the championship thanks to that Aguero moment against Queens Park Rangers.
This was the third occasion a trophy was awarded directly to the winner of a match between Wigan and Man Utd, and this time it was the FA Community Shield.
Wigan’s famous FA Cup victory over Man City the year before had given them another ticket to Wembley, where they came up against a familiar foe. However, this time it went more to script.
Having just led Man Utd to the Premier League title, Robin van Persie picked up where he left off the previous year by scoring both goals in a 2-0 win to get the David Moyes era off to the start everyone expected. Unfortunately, things quickly deteriorated for the Scotsman at Old Trafford.
Manchester United vs Wigan – Complete H2H record
Manchester United vs Wigan – Complete Premier League record
Top scorers in Manchester United vs Wigan fixtures
Player | Team represented | Goals |
|---|---|---|
Wayne Rooney | Man Utd | 10 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | Man Utd | 7 |
Javier Hernandez | Man Utd | 6 |
Dimitar Berbatov | Man Utd | 5 |
Robin van Persie | Man Utd | 4 |
