Tottenham 9 Wigan 1: Jermain Defoe Scores Five As Spurs Put On a Show

Jermain Defoe scored five second-half goals as Tottenham moved level on points with neighbours Arsenal via an astonishing nine-goal demolition of hapless Wigan at White Hart Lane.

Defoe netted three times in the space of seven second-half minutes after Peter Crouch had given the home side a half-time lead. The excellent Aaron Lennon supplied the fifth before Defoe drilled his fourth of the afternoon off a post and his fifth with three minutes remaining.

Substitute David Bentley made it eight direct from a free-kick and Niko Kranjcar netted the ninth in stoppage time to compound the Latics' misery.

Wigan's sole reply came from Paul Scharner to make it 3-1 but the Austrian had been fortunate as referee Peter Walton failed to spot a Thierry Henry-style use of an arm before the finish.


REACTION:
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp challenged Defoe to end the season as the Premier League's top scorer.

He said: "I don't see why Defoe can't be the top scorer in the Premier League this season. It's about time he scored 20 goals in a season. I don't know whether he's done it before, maybe with West Ham, but he should be able to do that. He's been so sharp in training. You could see this coming."

But Redknapp also revealed how he had been unhappy that his side were only one goal to the good at half-time.

He said: "I thought we were great for 25 minutes, came out of the blocks, worked them and closed them down. Then we stopped pressing them. They came back into the game for a while and had more possession. So we wanted to get back to what we'd spoken about in the week. We got after them again right from the first whistle in the second half and punished them. (Goalkeeper Chris) Kirkland made some great saves today, but we've played fantastically."

Redknapp added he felt sorry for Wigan manager Roberto Martinez.

He said: "You don't want to be jumping up and down when you've scored seven. It's hard. I know what their manager was going through. It's difficult and I felt a bit for him. As happy as I am inside with it all, I can imagine what he's going through. I wouldn't want to be running up the touchline in front of him."

Martinez admitted he was bitterly disappointed with the way his side had folded.

He said: "Overall, you need to take responsibility in this situation. You have huge anger because we feel we've come a long, long way this season. We've progressed massively. But the way we started the second half was not us at all. It was a real test of character for the players on the pitch after that. You learn a lot from that, but you'd rather not be in this situation.

"But our methods won't change at all. We need to correct the mistakes we made today. When the scoreline is 4-1, we had to start thinking about next week to try and avoid the damage going into the next game. We'll work at it and we'll try to become better after this.

"It's not nice, but what's important is bouncing back and learning from this situation. It's a real test for everyone. We came here to try and get the three points. But this is a day to congratulate Spurs and try and react to this as quickly as we can."

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Spurs were all over Wigan from the first minute but went in at the break with only Crouch's early goal to show for their efforts. Wigan had weathered that early storm, mainly thanks to some good goalkeeping, and were beginning to nibble their way back into the game. But a few choice words in the home dressing room saw the home side up the tempo once more and Wigan were blown away. Defoe's finishing was as good as Wigan's defending was poor and it ended up as a turkey shoot. Not since 1977 have the White Hart Lane faithful been treated to as many as nine goals from their favourites.

WHAT IT MEANS:
Spurs were well beaten at Arsenal just a few weeks ago but now they are level on points with their neighbours. Their home form has been good all through the Redknapp era and their away form is improving so, on a weekend when Liverpool, Manchester City and Aston Villa all failed to win, they have strengthened their case to be considered true contenders for a top-four finish. As for Wigan, they surely can't be as bad as this again but can expect a steady slide down the table if they cannot recover mentally from this mauling.

QUOTABLE:
"I've not experienced a game like that before. I've been on the wrong end of a nine - my first game, losing 9-0 with Bournemouth at Lincoln. Every game in the country was almost off that day. The pitch was like an ice rink, rock hard, and they were top of the league. They had those pimple boots on. We had no rubber boots, nothing, long nylon studs. We were so poor. The players were falling over as they want on to the pitch for the warm-up. That was about 1,200 games ago."
- Redknapp recalls a tough managerial baptism back in 1982.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 9 (Crouch 9, Defoe 51, 54, 58, 87 Lennon 64, Bentley 88, Kranjcar 90) WIGAN ATHLETIC 1 (Scharner 57)

PLAYER MARKING:
Tottenham (4-4-2): Gomes 6, Corluka 7, Dawson 7, Woodgate 7, Assou-Ekotto 6 (Bassong 82), Lennon 8 (Bentley 79), Huddlestone 7, Palacios 8 (Jenas 84), Kranjcar 7, Defoe 9, Crouch 8.
Subs (not used): Alnwick, Hutton, Pavlyuchenko, Keane.

Wigan (4-5-1): Kirkland 7, Melchiot 6, Bramble 5, Boyce 5, Edman 5, Thomas 5 (Gomes 68, 5), Diame 6, N'Zogbia 6, Scharner 5, Rodallega 6, Scotland 6.
Subs (not used): Pollitt, Cho, Koumas, Sinclair, Kapo, Figueroa.

ATTENDANCE: 35,600

NEXT UP:
- Tottenham v Aston Villa (Away), Premier League Saturday (28/11), 1730 GMT
- Wigan v Sunderland (Home), Premier League Saturday (28/11), 1500 GMT

MAN OF THE MATCH:
Jermain Defoe (Spurs): Aaron Lennon made a fantastic comeback from injury to torment Wigan all day and deserved a goal to add to his many assists. But who could resist a striker who scored five times in the second half, including three in seven minutes? Certainly not the Wigan defence. They never got near him.