Sir Alex Ferguson admits he is “clutching at straws” in the hope Manchester United can overtake Chelsea on the final bend of the season. He may have to lower those expectations should Vladimir Stojkovic stand between the Wigan posts and the destiny of the Premier League trophy at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.

The Serbian international goalkeeper produced, in the kindest terms, an erratic display in the absence of the injured Chris Kirkland as Hull City’s relegation was mathematically sealed in stoppage time at the DW Stadium. Despite needing a six point and 24 goal swing over West Ham United to avoid the drop before kick off, Iain Dowie’s team – plus a sizable travelling support – refused to go quietly and should have taken survival to the final day with a first away win since March 2009.

Headed goals by Will Atkinson and Mark Cullen, the first after an erroneous offside decision was overturned by referee Phil Dowd and the second from an offside position that wasn’t identified, placed Hull on the cusp of their first away win for 425 days until Steve Gohouri’s overhead kick salvaged a draw for Wigan and sparked a mass pitch invasion. The Latics’ late joy will not be shared by anyone of an Old Trafford persuasion, however, as Wigan and Stojkovic in particular offered little to suggest they can spoil the coronation of Carlo Ancelotti’s team in west London next weekend.

Robert Martinez’s men – who have beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal at the DW this season and deserve more respect than they have received since the league leader’s win at Anfield yesterday – had suggested the opposite in a dominant start that brought a first Wigan goal for Victor Moses. The talented winger cut inside two Hull defenders and sent a measured finish in off Matt Duke’s far post after being sent clear down the left following a mistake by George Boateng. But it was Stojkovic’s errors that altered the course of the contest.

The Wigan keeper, who once had a trial with Everton abruptly halted after just one training session, had already spread unease through his defence when he needlessly punched a harmless Boateng cross into the path of Kevin Kilbane. Two Hull strikers were offside when Kilbane crossed into the area but Atkinson arrived from an onside position to head beyond the static Serb. Dowd correctly overruled his assistant who had disallowed the goal for offside.

Hull’s second was offside, but this time there was no flag as Cullen ghosted in behind Mario Melchiot to glance another Boateng cross past Stojkovic. The ironic cheers whenever the Wigan keeper caught a cross – from his own supporters – must have sounded like a death-knell to Ferguson.

Premier LeagueWigan AthleticHull CityAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Injuries to key players are a problem faced by every manager but if Everton’s David Moyes is currently suffering more than most in that respect, the Glaswegian’s self-acknowledged failure to fashion a winning combination from those left standing is beginning to become serious. Defeat at the hands of a resurgent Hull City last night means his team have now won only one of their last eight matches, a run which has sent them slipping towards the relegation zone.

To emphasise the growing danger of their position, the Merseysiders now find themselves level on points with the Tigers, and as Moyes acknowledged, with Phil Neville, Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka, Victor Anichebe and James Vaughan all unlikely to be available before January, there are few signs of the injury situation improving.

The key for City was to maintain the momentum created in their previous two games, in which they beat Stoke and came back from two down to draw with West Ham. Had Everton exploited either of two poor early errors on the part of City centre-half Kamil Zayatte, the visitors would have gone a long way towards quietening a raucous full house, but they were still looking sufficiently assured for Hull’s opening goal in the ninth minute to be unexpected.

Stephen Hunt’s cross from the left, made into a high looping delivery by a deflection off the head of Joseph Yobo, should have been easily dealt with but Sylvain Distin and Leighton Baines got in each other’s way and the ball sat up nicely for Jozy Altidore. The young American cracked his shot hard and though his compatriot Tim Howard made a fine block, the rebound fell kindly for Hunt to drive into the empty net. Now it was all City.

Geovanni tested Howard from distance, and it was the Brazilian who won the free-kick which Andy Dawson curled superbly beyond the diving Howard in the 20th minute. Distin, up for a corner, flashed a free header over the bar but incredibly Hull went three up before the half hour. If there was an element of good fortune about the way Dean Marney’s side-footed shot was deflected by Tim Cahill’s block, wrong-footing Howard in the process, Moyes must have been furious about the manner in which Yobo gave Hunt a second chance to make the cross. He would have been even angrier had Altidore, given far too much time and room, shot inside instead of just outside Howard’s left-hand post shortly before half-time. Never one for theatrics, however, Moyes sat quietly until the interval and gave Everton a chance to reorganise, though his only immediate reaction was to go to five in midfield, replacing the ineffective Ayegbeni Yakubu with Dan Gosling.

They badly needed a break and got one almost immediately. John Heitinga’s low cross should have been cleared by Zayatte but just as in the opening minutes of the match, he miskicked comically. At least, it would have been comical if the ball had not spun up and beyond his goalkeeper Matt Duke into his own net. Given City’s mini-revival had been sparked by the return to fitness of Jimmy Bullard, and the midfielder was left out last night on the basis Phil Brown did not want him to play two games in four days at a relatively early stage in his comeback, the Tigers might have started to get nervous and defensive.

They kept going forward and shortly after the hour they paid the penalty when a three-on-two attack broke down. Cahill’s lobbed pass found Louis Saha running between Anthony Gardner and Zayatte, and Zayatte’s challenge was sufficiently clumsy to make the penalty an easy decision. Saha converted his eighth goal in 10 league appearances this season.

The next 30 minutes were torture for the Hull fans. For all that Brown urged his team to get forward they inevitably began to sit back, inviting Everton to get the ball into the danger area, but only in the last minute of injury time did they really threaten, when Baines hit a free-kick into the Hull wall.

Premier LeagueHull CityEvertonPhil BrownDavid Moyesguardian.co.uk