Martin Petrov's equaliser one minute into the second half earned City a point which kept them in the leading pack but their hopes of victory were hampered by the sending-off of Argentine right-back Pablo Zabaleta.
City remained in fifth spot with 17 points from eight matches, five behind champions Manchester United who top the table having played one more game. United beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday to move above Chelsea who lost at Aston Villa.
Fierce local rivals Blackburn Rovers and Burnley squared up in the top flight of English football for the first time in 43 years at Ewood Park on Sunday and Rovers edged a gripping derby 3-2.
First-half goals by David Dunn, Franco Di Santo and Pascal Chimbonda cancelled out Robbie Blake's stunning early opener for Burnley before Chris Eagles pulled one back for the visitors in the closing stages.
For all Manchester City's A-list signings they were outplayed in a dull first half and seemed to be heading for their second defeat of the season when they fell behind on the stroke of halftime.
REACTED QUICKER
Wigan, who beat Chelsea in their previous home game, had threatened before Charles N'Zogbia reacted quicker than Wayne Bridge to stab the ball into the net after City keeper Shay Given had parried Hugo Rodallega's shot.
City responded immediately in the second half, scoring from virtually their first attack of the match. Carlos Tevez made ground down the right and his cross reached Petrov who allowed the ball to run across his body before dispatching a left-foot shot past Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland.
Kirkland dislocated his finger during the second half but was able to carry on and it was City who were given a bigger problem when Zabaleta dived in on Jason Scotland and was shown a second yellow card and a red by the referee.
Rodallega was denied a Wigan winner as City held on for a point that satisfied their manager Mark Hughes.
"Given the circumstances, going down to 10 it was difficult but I think we showed great quality," Hughes told Sky Sports.
"When we got back on level terms I felt we would go on to win but the sending-off changed the whole momentum. Maybe last season we wouldn't have got anything out of this game."
