Sven-Goran Eriksson left disappointed

City 0 Wigan 0

Manchester City's dreadful home form continued as they were held to a goalless draw by Wigan.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's side have now gone six Barclays Premier League matches without a victory at Eastlands and this performance underlined why.

Transfer-deadline day signing Benjani Mwaruwari wasted their two best chances, a lack of control allowing goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to block his first-half one-on-one and then firing Darius Vassell's left-wing cross wide from close range after the break.

The visitors started the brighter and Marlon King should have done better after turning Richard Dunne wide on the left, but after cutting inside he curled his shot straight at Joe Hart.

In the 15th minute Antonio Valencia broke down the right and beat both Dunne and Michael Ball at the byline before pulling the ball back to Wilson Palacios, but he completely missed his kick from 12 yards.

Elano, restored to the starting line-up because of Martin Petrov's suspension, was enjoying plenty of possession for the hosts but could not find the right pass to unlock the Wigan defence.

One move involving him, Gelson Fernandes and Stephen Ireland won a corner and when it came out to the latter, he curled a shot narrowly over from 20 yards.

Benjani, who had been quiet in the opening half hour, should have put his team ahead when he was put clean through by Ireland.

However, having outstripped the defence, he just allowed the ball to run away from him and gave Kirkland enough of an opening to block with his body before Erik Edman cleared.

Michael Brown became the first player to be booked in the 32nd minute when he clattered into Elano after the ball had gone.

City should have had a free-kick 35 yards out, but referee Steve Bennett played a good advantage and Corluka's cross was headed to safety by Edman.

In the last minute of the half Emile Heskey, who had been a virtual spectator, headed a right-wing free-kick from Jason Koumas wide from eight yards out at the far post.

As if things could not get any worse, the players returned after the interval to be greeted by light rain blowing across the pitch.

It was a sad indictment of the first half that the most interesting thing to happen came during the interval when two female fans proposed marriage to their partners via the ground's electronic scoreboard.

Elano lasted just three minutes before appearing to twist his right knee and he was replaced by Felipe Caicedo.

When Johnson curled in a 50th-minute free-kick, Nedum Onuoha claimed he was pushed by Paul Scharner, but referee Bennett gave a goal-kick.

Benjani's quick turn of Emmerson Boyce on the edge of the area allowed him to get in a snap-shot, but Kirkland parried and then collected comfortably.

Eriksson replaced Ireland with Nery Castillo in the 62nd minute in an attempt to inject some creativity into his side.

The Swede even made a rare appearance on the touchline as he tried to get his message across to the players.

Steve Bruce made his first change by bringing on former City forward Antoine Sibierski for Marlon King in the 66th minute.

Castillo was soon into the action, forcing Kirkland into a low save from his left-footed 20-yard strike.

Benjani wasted another chance in the 71st minute when he fired wide from Vassell's driven left-wing cross.

Sibierski had a chance to silence the taunts from the home fans but scuffed Heskey's pull-back from the byline wide.

He then almost got on the end of Koumas' curling free-kick from the right.

Palacios should have snatched victory with nine minutes to go when he collected Heskey's return pass, but Hart made a good low save and the midfielder fired over from the rebound.

Wigan midfielder Michael Brown underlined the value of the point the Latics took from the 0-0 draw with Manchester City as they attempt to move away from the Barclays Premier League relegation zone.

The result sees City go level on points and goal difference with seventh-placed Blackburn while Wigan leapfrog Sunderland into 14th, just one point and one place behind free-falling Newcastle.

Brown - who also played for City at the start of his career - told Setanta Sports One: 'They've come here not to get beaten away from home.

'It was a good point for us, especially with the results today.

'We just keep pushing and battling away and try to get the points that will keep us safe.

'Everybody down there up to Middlesbrough is looking over their shoulders.

'It was a battling performance from the boys, better than we have been away from home.'

The former Sheffield United player also paid tribute to Honduras defender Wilson Palacios.

Brown added: 'Palacios has done fantastic. He is a powerful boy and you saw there was a great chance at the end for him to win it.'

Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson:
"If we don't attack quickly it is difficult to create. But I thought we were dangerous right til the end but we couldn't score.

"We were a little bit unlucky - Benjani could have scored once or twice.

"I am concerned that we don't score goals at home and we find it hard to break teams down. We need to win soon."

Wigan manager Steve Bruce:
"You'll always take a point but I think we should have won it. City were chasing the game and we had one or two good chances.

"If we keep playing like that and showing composure we will be ok. I thought at times we were excellent.

"We had worked hard on keeping in the game until the last 10 minutes but we didn't take our chance to win it."

Man City: Hart, Corluka, Dunne, Onuoha, Ball, Vassell, Gelson, Elano (Caicedo 49), Johnson, Ireland (Castillo 63), Mwaruwari.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Hamann, Garrido.

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Boyce, Edman, Valencia, Brown, Palacios, Koumas, Heskey, King (Sibierski 66).
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Bramble, Olembe, Bent.

Booked: Brown.

Att: 38,261

Ref: Steve Bennett (Kent).