Spurs 9 Wigan 1; Defoe and Lennon Throw a Party at the Lane

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See what all the fuss was about here.

Read about it here.

It’s fair to say that what we’ve all just witnessed was the kind of performance we’ve been looking from spurs this season especially the second half performance anyway. The game took shape after Lennon’s first touch on the ball, at which point he displayed that time off the pitch doesn’t necessarily mean that he wouldn’t improve his game. On the contrary he looked far more inventive today than we’ve seen him in a long time, with a variety of firecrackers in his box of tricks. Crouch looked sharp as a target man upfront trying to latch onto service from our midfield; scoring a goal from a bobbling Lennon ball at the 13th minute in the game. At this point it looked as if we’d definitely bossed the game and would roll on to secure our position before the break. However; the usual signs of a Spurs capitulation came into the fore as we found ourselves a bit bereft of ideas, and the physicality of Wigan’s players somewhat getting themselves back into the game. The half time whistle went and Harry had a few words to say.

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From the off in the second half we were looking to get a goal to sure things up; but I doubt many of you would have put a punt down on 8 goals to follow. The first, another incisive run from Lennon, who drew his cross early into the path of Defoe who smashed the ball into the roof of the net with great reflexive skill. Once two up; sitting back suddenly was not an option and we found ourselves committing more, which brought the reward of Defoe’s second,  a searching through ball from Palacios allowed him to run onto and cleanly put the ball past Kirkland.

Wigan then scored a goal by cheating. In an strange homage to Thierry Henry, Paul Scharner latched onto Rodellega’s ball and patted it down with his hand to blast the ball past Gomes. (3-1) Another clear cut example for FIFA to think about; whilst keeping the game human is one thing. allowing unsportsmanship like this and Thierry’s £100m apologetic chance is probably not the best precedent to set.

Anyway; Defoe shirked off this mild distraction by scoring a goal straight from the off, to neutralize any threat that Wigan were trying to pose. Lennon once again with a cheeky ball to Defoe who’s finish made it look as if he couldn’t miss anything today. At this point Lennon was a bit tired of providing for everyone else, and after good play from Kranjcar took the ball and drilled it home from the right hand side of the box. Defoe then scored from Corluka, to take his tally to four; he decided to show up Erik Edman by taking his fifth from a defensive mistake. At this point the score was 7-1, and with about 15 minutes to go, no betting man would have bet against any more finding their way past Chris Kirkland. Lennon left the field to a standing ovation to be replaced by Bentley who would surely have to prove his worth for a starting berth. He did this by smashing a freekick cooly into the top right hand corner, making it’s way into the net via the post and the back of Kirkland’s head.

At 8-1 the game was finished. Nearly. Kranjcar decided he had something to say about Modric’s position and through some silky midfield play found a position outside of the box to crack home a shot past a now witless Kirkland. Final score, Spurs 9 Wigan 1.

These kind of scorelines are only really seen when you have the winning team playing sublime, in comparison to underperforming underdog. It’s safe to say that this is what happened today, as all of our players put in a strong shift whereas Wigan looked beleaguered from the outset. Needless to say though; hopefully this game will provide the inspiration the squad to push on with the coming fixtures and consolidate their place in the table.

Player ratings;

Gomes – 7.1 – Didn’t have too much to do today, but did what he had to well. At one point rushed his distribution today and could have paid for it.

Assou Ekotto – 7.2 – Solid today and allowed the midfield to head forwards without worrying about a counter attack. Goes to show how well he can play with a solid left sided player in front of him.

Woodgate – 7.0 – Tenacious; along with Dawson caused Rodellega and Scotland to think twice about bossing it in the final centre third of the pitch.

Dawson – 7.0-  Great to see Dawson returning to form; as someone who has always rated him he seems to be developing really well.

Corluka – 7.1- A good assist today and looks pretty good going forward for a slow chap. Still not the revelation he was when we bought him, but great worth today.

Kranjcar – 8.5- Creative midfeild dynamo. Sound familiar? Modric and Kranjcar together could create the football that Spurs fans always hark on about. For me, has to play more as his languid qualities are reminiscent of a certain Bulgarian who despite being awful now, if we’re honest we all miss a little bit.

Huddlestone. 7.2- Where do you want the ball? OK. Forget about kicking football into skips, muffintop could kick a golf ball into a packet of skips blindfolded. Looks great when backed up by Palacios.

Palacios – 8.2 – May have lost the ball a few times, but each time battled to get it back again. Protected Huddlestone aswell as offered a short passing threat going forwards. Very good today at pushing Wigan back and putting the frighteners on them.

Lennon* – 9.5 – Sublime today. It’s scary to say that he looks twice the player that limped off a few weeks ago. Has obviously been putting alot into his game when he was on the sidelines, and obviously was very hungry today. New contract please.

Crouch – 7.6 – Good target man today. Always looked dangerous in the box and was great at holding up the play bringing in Defoe and Lennon into proceedings.

Defoe* – 9.5 – Doesn’t really get much better than five goals. Through a double hatt-rick would have been unprecedented in the premier league. Absolutely lethal today.

Subs:

Bentley – 7.5 -Great freekick looked a bit like the guy we bought, but with Lennon playing as well as he did today, you really have to feel for the lad who is known to have a great attitude.

Bassong – n/a – Came on for Benoit at the end of the game as he had taken a knock. Will be interesting to see how our four centre-backs fit in as they all seem to be playing at a very high level.

Jenas – n/a – Unluckily for Jenas it seems he was late to the party and was unable to really make his mark today.

Next up: Aston Villa Away.