If those blue-sky thinkers on the Manchester City board are frustrated at times by the parochialism of the Premier League, goodness only knows what they make of the JJB Stadium, a place defined by grim retail park, the whiff of pies and the perimeter advertising for Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls. It is a place that does not belong in that Orwellian vision of a 14-team, closed-shop Premier League, but the road to Wigan Athletic is always worth taking.

This was a compelling encounter, one that should be remembered for more than just another refereeing controversy, this time involving Steve Bennett, who awarded Wigan a dubious match-winning penalty at one end before denying City what looked to be a far stronger claim minutes later.

Mark Hughes, the City manager, complained with some justification that “key decisions” had gone against his team, but it would have been an injustice had Wigan’s enthusiasm, muscular aggression and, yes, skill not yielded a victory that leaves them looking down on Manchester United from tenth place.

As such, it was another reality check for City after their Carling Cup elimination at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion. It is not the type of result that Robinho, the £34.2 million forward, had in mind when he left Real Madrid on that incredible day, but Wigan are nobody’s pushovers.

In Luis Antonio Valencia, Wilson Palacios, Emile Heskey and Amr Zaki, they had the game’s outstanding players, with Zaki enhancing his cult status at the JJB Stadium by converting the controversial 33rd-minute penalty that settled the game.

Should it have been a penalty? Hughes felt not, saying that Palacios “dived theatrically” when challenged by Javier Garrido.

Steve Bruce, the Wigan manager, admitted that his player had “made a meal of it” but felt that Bennett’s decision was justified.

While the debate continued, with Vincent Kompany and Robinho booked for dissent, Zaki kept his nerve and beat Joe Hart with the penalty, to score his sixth goal in eight matches since his unheralded arrival on loan from Zamalek, the Egyptian club, in July.

Bruce has an admirable knack of finding bargains in the most unlikely places and, in Zaki, he has another to go alongside Palacios and Valencia.

It was Valencia who set the ball rolling for Wigan in the sixteenth minute with a stupendous right-foot shot that flew past Hart into the top corner, even though Hughes will bemoan the amount of time and space that the Ecuador midfield player was given to line up his shot.

City equalised within eight minutes, Kompany enjoying a spot of good fortune as Elano’s free kick bounced in off his knee, and, for a short time, as Shaun Wright-Phillips started to enjoy himself on the right and Robinho began to show off on the left, it seemed that Hughes’s team would take command.

City were not helped when Bennett, having awarded a controversial penalty against them, turned a blind eye to Heskey’s shove on Richard Dunne just before the interval, but, when they tried to raise their game in the second half, they were frustrated at every turn by the workrate and endeavour of this vastly under-rated Wigan team.

Zaki milked the applause of the Wigan supporters at the final whistle and Bruce, who has an early claim to having made the most inspired purchase of the season, said that the forward was entitled to do so. “He’s one of those old-fashioned kind of centre forwards,” the Wigan manager said. “He has the same physique as Mark Hughes, he’s that sort of type.

“The general manager [John Benson] and I went to Egypt nine times last season to watch him and the only question was whether he could do it in the Premier League.

“But he can and he has a great hunger and appetite about him. You get that from lads from these not-so-wealthy countries — Honduras, Ecuador, Egypt — and it’s fantastic.”

Even in Wigan, little old Wigan, there are exotic and eye-catching imports to be seen these days. They might not come with the same price tag and reputation as Robinho, but, as Hughes would reluctantly testify, they are no pushovers.

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): C Kirkland 6 - M Melchiot 7, E Boyce 6, T Bramble 6, M Figueroa 5 - L A Valencia 8, L Cattermole 6, W Palacios 8, O Kapo 6 - A Zaki 7, E Heskey 8. Substitute: M Brown 5 (for Cattermole, 53min). Not used: M Pollitt, P Scharner, D de Ridder, K Kilbane, J Koumas, H Camara. Next: Middlesbrough (h).

Manchester City (4-3-3): J Hart 5 - P Zabaleta 6, M Richards 6, R Dunne 6, J Garrido 4 - S Ireland 6, V Kompany 6, Elano 5 - S Wright-Phillips 7, Jô 6, Robinho 6. Substitutes: C Evans (for Jô, 74min), D Sturridge (for Elano, 85), G Fernandes (for Kompany, 90). Not used: K Schmeichel, T Ben-Haim, M Ball, D Hamann. Next: Liverpool (h).