Wigan 1 Manchester City 1:Wigan survived conceding the fastest goal in the Premier League this year, the loss of record signing Emile Heskey to injury and the late dismissal of captain Mario Melchiot to end their eight-match losing streak.
Of all the starts Steve Bruce could have envisaged to his second stint with the Latics, none could have been as disastrous as the one which unfolded.
Titus Bramble's somewhat unfortunate reputation as an accident waiting to happen preceded his £5million move from Newcastle last summer.
Yet the Wigan fans have been largely impressed with the defender, certainly one of their club's better performers in season filled with disappointment.
All the good work was undone by the mistake which gifted Geovanni his third goal of the season.
As Scharner's header bounced in front of him with no opponent even close, Bramble chose to wait before attempting to lay the ball off to Kevin Kilbane on his left.
Inexplicably, Bramble merely brushed the base of his studs against the ball, succeeding only in dropping it right into the path of Geovanni, who had continued his run more in hope than expectation.
Handed the City playmaking duties of fellow Brazilian Elano, Geovanni quickly darted into the empty space in front of him, skipped round Chris Kirkland and tapped home.
By his dug-out, Bruce was almost too stunned to react.
Thankfully, whatever work Bruce has managed to do in the last week, it includes injecting a large dose of self-belief.
Rather than crumble, as most teams in the bottom three would do faced with similar circumstances, Wigan shrugged off their disappointment and tore into their highly-rated opponents.
Tthe feeling persists that City are punching well above their weight (in third at the start of today) and a downturn in fortunes is sure to come at some point.
The point was emphasised as Eriksson's side were pushed onto the back foot for long periods, even if central defensive duo Richard Dunne and Micah Richards remained relatively untroubled.
All that changed midway through the opening period as Wigan took advantage of the difficulties Javier Garrido continued to experience after falling heavily following a collision with Antonio Valencia.
Vedran Corluka could only flick a cross from Garrido's left flank into the path of Jason Koumas, who had enough time to pick out Scharner with a ball back into the City box which invited the Austrian's firm headed finish.
Wigan continued to hold sway until the interval, although their hopes of ending their long losing run were dealt a major blow right at the start of the second period by the departure of Heskey, who was instantly substituted after going down holding his hamstring.
Ironically though, Heskey's replacement Ryan Taylor nearly put Wigan in front, forcing Andreas Isaksson into a superb low save after he met Valencia's flick with a firm left-footed volley.
Safe to say, the City supporters were not that impressed with their team and calls for the introduction of £8.8million striker Rolando Bianchi, repeatedly overlooked by Eriksson this season and rumoured to be on the brink of a January transfer back to Italy, rolled down from the visitors' section.
The demand was heeded 12 minutes from time, with Georgios Samaras predictably making way.
However, Bianchi had no impact whatsoever even though his side finished with a man extra after Melchiot was rightly dismissed for a two-footed lunge on Ireland.
