It was not pretty and did not produce the sackfuls of goals City have often managed this season but three points from a scrappy game at a cold and sparse DW Stadium are exactly what teams eke out on their way to championships.
"This evening it was important to take three points, I think that we played well in the first half an hour and after [that] so-so," City manager Roberto Mancini told a news conference.
"We had three or four incredible chances to score the second goal but we didn't score... in this moment it is important to get three points, this month it is important to do the maximum points we can get."
After dominating possession with their trademark swift passing, City's breakthrough came in the 22nd minute when David Silva floated in a free-kick that the towering Dzeko nodded past Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.
Silva returned from the ankle injury that kept him out of last week's 1-0 defeat by Liverpool in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final and a little of the dynamism that has torn apart so many teams also came back, in the first half at least.
Silva was then denied by Al Habsi's quick reflexes and City goalkeeper Joe Hart dived well to block James McCarthy's low shot as a spirited Wigan sensed they could still snatch something.
City manager Roberto Mancini was literally hopping mad shortly before the end when Wigan's Maynor Figueroa handled the ball near the halfway line when he was the last man, denying Aguero from running clear through on goal.
Asked if he felt the Honduran left-back should have been shown a red card rather than the yellow he received, Mancini replied: "Next question, please."
He said it was perfectly "normal" to react as he had done to the incident and said it was different for a manager to act that way compared to a player.
"I am on the bench, it's different from one player that is near the referee," he said.
"I don't think it was a goal-scoring opportunity," he told a news conference.
He will also be hoping Silva, the inspiration behind so many of City's moves up the field before he was taken of
