Cole's 11th goal of the season saw West Ham to victory
Carlton Cole's superb first-half strike proved decisive as West Ham cemented seventh place with victory over Wigan in an ill-tempered encounter.
Cole finished a fine passing move with a curled finish but three minutes later he was sent off for a second booking.
Wigan saw Mido's header hit a post before Lee Cattermole was dismissed for a reckless challenge on Scott Parker.
Mark Noble had two chances to extend West Ham's lead in a dour second half as the booking count rose to eight.
Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola will be delighted with the result but the evening ended on a sour note for him when Jack Collison was stretchered off with a knee injury, although the Italian said afterwards it may not be too serious.
We deserved the win - Zola
For Wigan, the defeat extends their winless run to eight matches and, although they remain eighth, the Latics have now failed to score in six of their last eight games.
Worryingly for boss Steve Bruce, who was able to call upon Antonio Valencia and Mido for the first time in almost a month, his side rarely looked like scoring despite their positive start.
The all-Egyptian strike force of Mido and Amr Zaki worked tirelessly to occupy the attentions of Matthew Upson and James Tomkins, allowing wingers Valencia and Charles N'Zogbia to cut inside with probing through-balls and incisive runs.
But in the opening stages, Wigan's only clear-cut chances came from free-kicks as Zaki and Mido saw an effort apiece ushered to safety by West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green.
On the rare occasions that West Ham managed to keep possession they posed a genuine threat, one counter-attack ending with David di Michele scuffing a shot wide and another seeing Cole let down by his touch after being put through by Collison.
With their focus almost solely on bursting forward, Wigan were allowing their opponents an increasing amount space and time, which proved costly as West Ham opened the scoring in spectacular fashion.
Parker, Mark Noble and Di Michele were all involved in an intricate one-touch move that ended with Cole pulling away from Titus Bramble, collecting Di Michele's pass and curling a delicious strike past Chris Kirkland.
Unfortunately for Cole, his evening would last just three more minutes.
A bad-tempered affair saw eight yellow cards and two sendings off
Having already been cautioned for upending Michael Brown, the 25-year-old received a second yellow card for a high foot on Emerson Boyce.
The dismissal, and ensuing melee, seemed to divert West Ham's attention and they could have conceded before half-time when Mido headed Valencia's right-wing cross against Green's near post.
Wigan made a bright start to the second period but their hopes of mounting a comeback were dented when Cattermole received his marching orders for a dreadful tackle on Parker.
Moments earlier, Lucas Neill had only received a yellow card from referee Stuart Attwell for a horror lunge on Cattermole.
Bruce angry about referee Attwell
The quality of football from then on was poor but, as Wigan pushed for an equaliser, West Ham had a number of chances to extend their lead.
Noble narrowly failed to convert Di Michele's low centre before he was foiled by Kirkland after being put clear by substitute Savio.
At the death, Jonathan Spector squared for Walter Lopez to bear down on goal but Maynor Figueroa intervened with a tremendous last-ditch tackle.
Wigan manager Steve Bruce: "The game was ruined as a spectacle. Carlton Cole shouldn't have been sent off. Referee, use a bit of common sense. It had the makings of a decent game but how he sends someone off in the first half for something as petulant as that I don't know.
"Lucas Neill should have been off the pitch for his tackle, which was horrific. I have no complaints about Cattermole, he was stupid and silly but he was incensed - and he has a good right to be.
"I feel a bit sorry for him because in my opinion Mr Attwell is not ready to step up to the plate."
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola: "We have to understand the referee is a human being and can make mistakes. He needs our support. You can have a bad day but we need to support them as they are here to help the game.
"Neither of Carlton Cole's challenges were bad tackles at all. Cattermole's was a bad tackle on Parker, as was Lucas Neill's on Cattermole. Lucas wanted to go for the ball, he caught the man but it was a bad tackle.
"We are very serious about Europe, as we proved today. The players love what they are doing, they're enjoying their football and as a manager I feel lucky."
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