One minute into injury time, Wigan Athletic won a corner kick which was taken by Shaun Maloney: Ben Watson outjumped Jack Rodwell and headed the ball over Joe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper, and into the goal to secure a 1–0 win.

In second-half stoppage time, Manchester City academy player Rony Lopes scored from close range to secure a 3–0 victory for his side.

[19] Yaya Touré gave Manchester City the lead in the fifth minute, taking the ball past Leeds United goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown and scoring after a pass from Tevez.

[21] In the semi-final, Manchester City faced defending FA Cup champions Chelsea for the first time in the competition since 1971, the match being held at Wembley, a neutral venue.

Vincent Kompany then shot off-target shortly before half-time, and two minutes after the interval Barry's cross found Agüero, who headed the ball into the Chelsea goal off the post while goalkeeper Petr Čech remained motionless.

Demba Ba then scored past Pantilimon to reduce the deficit for Chelsea but the match ended 2–1 and Manchester City progressed to the final.

Wigan Athletic hit the Bournemouth crossbar twice in the second half before they won a penalty after Simon Francis fouled Maynor Figueroa in the area in the 70th minute.

The home side had several opportunities to score, including a header from Audel from 6 yards (5.5 m) which went straight to Wigan Athletic's debutant goalkeeper Joel Robles.

McManaman then doubled the lead when a mistake by Phil Neville allowed him to take the ball past Everton's goalkeeper Ján Mucha and shoot.

In the first half, Koné's cross found Shaun Maloney who volleyed the ball past David Forde in the Millwall goal to give Wigan Athletic the lead.

With twelve minutes of the match remaining, Wigan Athletic broke out of defence and Gómez's pass found McManaman who took the ball round Forde to double his side's lead.

[30] Before the match, it was reported in The Daily Telegraph that manager Roberto Mancini's job was under threat after he failed to lead Manchester City to a defence of their league title.

[31] The referee for the match was Andre Marriner who had officiated at Wembley Stadium twice previously, at the 2010 FA Community Shield and the 2010 Football League Championship play-off final.

[33][34] Wigan Athletic wore the club's black away kit for the final, used the away team dressing room and were allocated the East End of the stadium.

[37][38] Despite expectations in the media that Pantilimon would retain his position as the Manchester City goalkeeper for the final, he was dropped to the substitute's bench in place of Joe Hart.

[41][42] Manchester City made eight changes to the starting line-up from their previous match, a Premier League game against West Bromwich; only Hart, Nasri and Tevez keeping their place.

[40][43] Antolín Alcaraz returned to the Wigan Athletic starting lineup after recovering from a torn hamstring in place of Gary Caldwell, and Figueroa was ruled out with a groin injury.

This was controversial, particularly with regard to both sets of supporters facing difficulties in guaranteeing train transport back to the North West of England after the match.

[40][50] The traditional pre-match anthem, "Abide with Me", was performed by musical quartet Amore alongside the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.

[52] Two minutes into the game, Zabaleta made a run down the right wing and crossed the ball, which took a deflection before falling to Silva whose volley was blocked by McArthur.

Agüero was then fouled by Alcaraz on the edge of the Wigan Athletic penalty area but Tevez's subsequent free kick was blocked with the ball finding Touré whose shot was pushed away by Robles.

Midway through the half, Maloney's shot from around 30 yards (27 m) was off-target before Matija Nastasić failed to score with a long-range strike for Manchester City.

In the 29th minute, Silva passed the ball into the Wigan Athletic penalty area and found Tevez, who stretched to shoot, but Robles made a save with his boot.

With nine minutes of the half remaining, Alcaraz ran through the middle of the pitch and passed to McManaman who went round Nastasić, before his shot was blocked by Zabaleta.

On the hour mark, Zabaleta became the first player of the match to be shown the yellow card after he committed a professional foul on McManaman who had made a break for Wigan Athletic.

In the 64th minute, Gomez's shot from 25 yards (23 m) went over the Manchester City crossbar before Kompany tackled McManaman after the Wigan Athletic player had dribbled past both Silva and Gaël Clichy.

A minute later, the final whistle was blown and Wigan Athletic had won the match 1–0, securing the FA Cup for the first time in their history.

[67] European newspapers also commented on the shock result, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Die Welt and Le Figaro all noting the historical significance of the event.

[72] His assistant, Brian Kidd, took temporary charge of the club and they ended the season with a 2–0 victory at Reading followed by a 3–2 home defeat by Norwich City to finish second in the Premier League.

[75] They failed to progress to the knockout stage, finishing bottom of Group D.[76] Pellegrini was appointed as the full-time replacement for Mancini in June 2013.