Manchester City have maintained their bid for Champions League football next season after a 3-0 win over Wigan at Eastlands, which lifts them up to fifth place in the Barclays Premier League. A second-half hat-trick from Carlos Tevez finally broke down a stubborn Wigan side but only after defender Gary Caldwell was shown a controversial red card. Tevez, who had also been involved in the sending-off incident, took advantage of the extra freedom to reel-off three goals in the space of just 12 minutes. There was also controversy surrounding the opening goal as Wigan goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic claimed that he had been fouled by Emmanuel Adebayor when going to claim a cross. Tevez also appeared to be off-side when he tapped-in to an empty net. There were no arguments about the other two strikes, which were of genuine quality. The second came after a clever back-heel from Vincent Kompany allowed Tevez to blast home at the back-post, before the Argentine completed the rout by winning the ball in midfield and out-witting Stojkovic with a clever chip. The win means City have now leap-frogged Liverpool and are just two points behind Tottenham in the battle for fourth and takes Tevez’s tally for the season to 25 goals.