Presumably Thaksin Shinawatra, Manchester City’s billionaire owner, could afford to have the television feed of his team’s latest league disappointment beamed to the Thai bolt-hole where he is awaiting trial on corruption charges and that is a blessing for Sven-Göran Eriksson, the team’s manager.

Viewing City’s goalless and largely chanceless draw with Wigan Athletic served to emphasise the need for Thaksin to clear his name and free frozen assets worth a reported £800 million that will allow Eriksson to embark upon a summer spending spree after City’s recent slump that has brought only two wins in the past 11 matches.

While City are heading in the wrong direction, Wigan are making a fist of survival, not least because of the playmaking qualities of Wilson Palacios, the Honduras midfield player, a transfer-window signing from Birmingham City, Steve Bruce’s former club, where the player was on loan.

Palacios is evidence of the ability to perform under extreme mental duress, considering that his 15-year-old brother, Edwin, is being held by kidnappers in his homeland.

“His brother is still there, kidnapped, locked up,” Bruce, the Wigan manager, said. “It apparently happens quite often in Honduras, but the family are in contact with him. We hope that can be resolved quickly, but it shows you everything about the kid that he can still produce a performance like the one he had against City.”

Palacios missed the best chance of the game as he connected with Emile Heskey’s 81st-minute square pass and drew a fine block from Joe Hart, the City goalkeeper, before volleying the rebound over. It was a rare mistake by the 23-year-old and a rare note of disappointment on a largely satisfying evening for Bruce and his team.

Manchester City (4-3-1-2): J Hart 7 - V Corluka 6, R Dunne 7, N Onuoha 5, M Ball 7 – G Fernandes 6, M Johnson 8, S Ireland 7 (sub: N Castillo, 63min 5) – Elano 6 (sub: F Caicedo, 49 7) – D Vassell 7, Benjani Mwaruwari 5. Substitutes not used: A Isaksson, D Hamann, J Garrido. Next: Reading (a).

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): C Kirkland 7 – M Melchiot 7, E Boyce 7, P Scharner 7, E Edman 5 – A Valencia 5, W Palacios 8, M Brown 5, J Koumas 6 – E Heskey 7, M King 7 (sub: A Sibierski, 66 6). Substitutes not used: M Pollitt, M Bent, T Bramble, S Olembé. Booked: Brown. Next: Arsenal (h).

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