There is no coping with Tottenham Hotspur on occasions such as these. Spurs seared back into a Champions League qualification place here with a second-half destruction of Wigan that took the breath, Jermain Defoe plundering a hat-trick in seven minutes and later adding two more as home players revelled in the ease of it all. Local conviction that a top-four finish remains a possibility no longer feels far-fetched.
As dishevelled as Wigan’s back-line was, their centre-halves sinking without trace and the full-backs melting when confronted by pace and trickery, Tottenham were utterly irresistible. The first-half display had only hinted at a rout, Peter Crouch’s early headed goal setting a tone that Spurs initially struggled to maintain, though the cricket score was duly rattled up in the latter stages. The hosts, staggeringly, scored eight after the break. Wigan are only 31 years a Football League club, but this debacle represented their worst-ever league defeat.
As ridiculous as it sounds, they ended lucky only to ship the nine. Defoe drew the focus with the second fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, pilfered expertly in exactly seven minutes, though the architects of this success were arguably the hosts’ majestic wingers. Niko Kranjcar’s delivery was superb from the left, the Croat capping a superb performance with the through-balls for Defoe to secure his fourth and fifth rewards of the afternoon and the ninth for himself, converted via the bar on the turn.
On the opposite flank, however, Aaron Lennon was simply irrepressible. The England winger, returning to the team after an ankle problem, set up Crouch for the opener then presented Defoe with his first six minutes after the interval. He repeated that trick for the striker’s third, Defoe having converted from Wilson Palacios’ pass in between, before adding the goal his own display deserved with yet another low, diagonal shot through the exposed Chris Kirkland.
Defoe’s fourth and fifth were virtually identical, Wigan’s composure shot to pieces with Erik Edman badly at fault and Emmerson Boyce labouring, before the substitute David Bentley’s free-kick cannoned into the net via the woodwork and the back of Kirkland’s head. Lost amid the glut of goals was Paul Scharner’s lone reward, a goal scored after a Thierry Henry-like handball. Wigan ended shellshocked and embarrassed. For Spurs, their goal difference suddenly approaching a healthy standard even in comparison to third-placed Arsenal, the pursuit of a top-four finish has gathered pace.
Premier LeagueTottenham HotspurWigan AthleticDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk
