Sometimes football’s apparent illogicalities are really reflecting the game’s perverse sense of logic. Always expect the unexpected. So when Wigan, having conceded 10 goals in their two opening Premier League games, turned up at White Hart Lane, where they had lost 9-1 on their previous visit, the thought occurred that they would probably win.

So it proved. Tottenham, cockahoop three nights earlier after brushing aside Young Boys of Berne to reach the group stage of the Champions League, now went broody as they failed to find the craft and imagination to outwit a Wigan defence that looked as if it produced clean sheets as regularly as a Chinese laundry. A soft goal in the 80th minute from Hugo Rodallega, whose cross-shot Carlo Cudicini should have saved, and Wigan departed to celebratory squeals from their handful of travelling supporters while Spurs left the scene to derisory boos from the nation’s most fickle fans.

If Roberto Martínez began the afternoon with his employment at the DW Stadium on the line – “I’m not daft,” he said afterwards, “you are always three defeats away from losing the job” – the Wigan manager ended it with his reputation as a salvage expert considerably enhanced. The retention of Ali al-Habsi in goal following a shut-out at Hartlepool in the Carling Cup (Chris Kirkland had a hip problem and was probably shell-shocked anyway) was crucial to the result since the Omani thwarted Tottenham’s best efforts with a series of outstanding saves.

The Wigan centre-backs, Steve Gohouri and Antolín Alcaraz, managed not only to stifle Spurs’ strikers but several times moved up to augment the attack, Gohouri hitting the underside of the crossbar early in the match and Alcaraz appearing at the far post, if only to miss a sitter, just before Rodallega scored.

All this against a background of crisis not helped by the breakdown of the recalcitrant Charles N’Zogbia’s £9m transfer to Birmingham City because of wage demands. Wigan’s five-man midfield did not miss N’Zogbia on Saturday. They were consistently first to the ball while Spurs, outnumbered in the central areas, were second to almost everything. “The type of performance we had today was of a group of players really committed,” said Martínez pointedly.

Harry Redknapp was among those who expected a shock in the offing. “I fear these matches more than any other game,” the Tottenham manager admitted. “These are not games you enjoy. People turn up here today and they expect you to walk all over them. After two minutes we give the ball away and it’s ‘Oooh!’ and they’re on your case.” Nor did he spare his team. “People have got to work harder to get into the game. Too many today were too easily marked out of it.”

The defeat bore some similarity to the way Spurs lost 1-0 at home to Stoke City last October when they laboured in vain to break down a solid defence and were beaten by a late goal. On each occasion they badly needed the subtler skills of an injured Luka Modric.

“We lacked the guile to break them down,” Redknapp said. “You miss Modric in these games. When the game is tight he takes the ball for you.”

The pivotal moment came when Jermain Defoe, who had scored five in the 9-1 win last season, met a dipping cross from Benoît Assou-Ekotto midway through the first half with a good touch then spun on the ball to produce a goalbound low shot which drew an excellent save from Al-Habsi. Spurs did not seriously test the Wigan goalkeeper again until they were straining for an equaliser, when Niko Kranjcar saw a dipping shot tipped over the bar. When Al-Habsi did at last fail to get to a high ball, Younes Kaboul put a free header wide.

Redknapp was not buying any Champions League hangover theories. “You should come here today and feel fantastic about yourself, not have a hangover or feel lethargic. You should go out there knowing the crowd love you and the way you played last Wednesday, and be ready to play today.” Certainly one team was ready on Saturday, but it was not Tottenham.

Man of the match: Ali Al-Habsi (Wigan Athletic)

Premier LeagueTottenham HotspurWigan AthleticDavid Laceyguardian.co.uk