Manchester City were indebted to Carlos Tevez for a second half hat-trick in the 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic at Eastlands. City had been poor before the break, but the sending off of Wigan's Gary Caldwell in the second half for an adjudged two-footed tackle on Tevez was the turning point.
Ironically, the Latics created a couple of decent chances whilst a man short but gradually City gained a stranglehold on the game.
The Argentinean scored a 12-minute hat-trick between the 72nd and 84th minutes as City keep their chances of a Champions League spot alive.
First Tevez took advantage of a terrible goalkeeping error from Vladimir Stojkovic to tap home.
Two minutes later he slid in at the far post to double the lead before helping himself to a superb solo effort.
The win leaves the home side two points behind fourth-placed Tottenham having played the same amount of games, while Wigan remain just four points above the relegation zone.
