There were three games today with both Manchester clubs in action as well as bottom side Wigan. Manchester City travelled to the Liberty Stadium to face a Swansea side that has been more than competent at home. Swansea were awarded a penalty after just five minutes when Joe Hart brought Wayne Routledge down. Scott Sinclair stepped-up and dispatched a poor penalty that Hart easily saved, it was Sinclair's first missed penalty of the season. The hosts were more than in the match throughout and Roberto Mancini brought Gareth Barry off for Sergio Aguero after just 37-minutes, showing his concern at City's performance.
It was alleged that Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli had a half-time bust-up in the tunnel but it didn't get brought onto the pitch as the pair continued as normal. The leader improved in the second half as they began to dominate possession. But Swansea fought back and a header from Luke Moore via a Routledge cross gave Swansea the win seven minutes from time. City tried to find an equaliser but Michel Vorm was equal to them until he came for a cross that he didn't catch. Luckily for him, Micah Richard's headed goal was disallowed by Sian Massey who correctly flagged for offside. Swansea held on to see Brendan Rodgers' side move up to eleventh on goal difference.
Meanwhile at Old Trafford, Manchester United hosted West Brom with United needing to recover from their disappointing European performance against Bilbao. West Brom started the game off better with Keith Andrews missing a great chance. But United soon found their stride and began to sting the hands of former Old Trafford keeper, Ben Foster. The opening goal of the game came ten minutes before half-time with Wayne Rooney converting a Javier Hernandez shot past Foster. West Brom thought they had a penalty when Peter Odemwingie fell under the challenge of Patrice Evra. But nothing was given and United went up the other with Hernandez hitting the post.
Danny Welbeck had a great opportunity to double their advantage but missed an open goal from a tight angle. West Brom's chances got slimmer when Jonas Olsson received a second yellow card for a foul on Hernandez. United were then awarded a penalty when Ashley Young was tugged down by Keith Andrews. Rooney stepped-up and converted to give United the win with 19-minutes remaining. This puts Manchester United top of the Premiership by a point.
The final game of the day came from Carrow Road where Norwich took on Wigan. The pair shared a point in a 1-1 draw on the first day of the season and that was reciprocated today. The deadlock was broken after just ten minutes when a quick throw bamboozled the Wigan defence. Wes Hoolahan scored on the opening day against Wigan and it was he who was on the of the throw today.
From there, Wigan were arguably the better side but their poor finishing showed why they currently sit at the bottom of the league. They had plenty of chances but couldn't convert any of them despite John Ruddy being stretched. Wigan's breakthrough finally came on 68-minutes when Victor Moses rounded Ruddy before rolling the ball into the net.
With the scores level, both teams nearly won the game. Mohamed Diame missed two guilt-edged opportunities; blazing a shot from a pull-back over the bar and then smashing a shot wide from a break. Norwich's chance to win it saw Steve Morison's power header brilliantly saved by Ali Al-Habsi. The point sees Wigan move three points from safety.
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