Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic: Jermain Defoe Scores Five In White Hart Lane Rout

All too easy for the Lilywhites...

EPL: Aaron Lennon, Tottenham - Wigan Athletic (Getty Images)

Wigan Athletic were brushed aside at White Hart Lane as Tottenham Hotspur's England duo of Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon piled misery on Roberto Martinez with an astonishing 9-1 victory.

Defoe stole the headlines with a stunning five-goal haul in the second half, which equals the Premier League record of Andy Cole and Alan Shearer for the most goals in a single match, as Spurs ran rings around a hapless Wigan side to record their biggest ever win in top-flight football.

Peter Crouch was given an opportunity to impress in the match as Harry Redknapp named Robbie Keane on the bench after his exploits against France in the World Cup play-off defeat and straight from the kick-off Spurs were on the front foot with Aaron Lennon running at Wigan left-back Erik Edman and putting a cross in which was forced wide by Crouch.

The England striker was also on the end of a Wilson Palacios cross on five minutes which he put wide of the goal but made amends for his two early misses three minutes later.

With eight minutes on the clock, Aaron Lennon tormented Edman and put a teasing ball into the box onto which Crouch ghosted past Titus Bramble to stoop and head the ball into the back of the net for 1-0.

Wigan struggled to get out of their own half for the first 20 minutes, in which Tom Huddlestone flashed a volley wide and Crouch and Palacios both had shots saved by Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal.

The away side then started to come into the game and both Hugo Rodallega and Jason Scotland fired wide from distance before the former Swansea striker had a chance well saved by Heurelho Gomes.

Jermain Defoe then almost extended Spurs' lead when he hit the crossbar, while N'Zogbia replicated the act at the other end.

With time running out in the first half Defoe was then put through and forced a good save out of Kirkland but Spurs went into the interval with a well-deserved lead.

However, the game was effectively put out of Wigan's in 13 second half minutes.

First, Defoe got on the end of a Lennon cross to fire in on 50 minutes, before the England striker was put through by Palacios to fire it past Kirkland for 3-0 three minutes later.

There was then a moment of controversy on 56 minutes when Paul Scharner seemed to control a Rodallega pass with his hand before beating Gomes with a powerful shot, but Defoe then restored order two minutes later as he volleyed in yet another Lennon cross to seal his hat-trick.


Defoe celebrates one of his five goals

Lennon then got in on the act on 63 minutes after he was given time to pick his spot in the bottom left hand corner to make it 5-1 and score the fifth goal in a 13-minute period of the game.

The match was incredibly open and Scharner proceeded to fire wide before Martinez made his first change bringing on Jordi Gomez for Henri Thomas. But Wigan struggled to compete and Defoe scored his fourth goal on 68 minutes after latching on to a pin-point ball from Palacios to blast it past Kirkland off his near post.

Lennon was given a standing ovation when David Bentley replaced him on 78 minutes, with the White Hart Lane faithful acknowledging his fabulous performance consisting of three assists and a goal.

Wigan looked like a beleaguered and beaten team, however Scharner sprung life into his troops when he forced Gomes into a good save on 80 minutes, but Spurs looked dangerous every time they flooded forward and Kranjcar blasted a shot wide seconds later.

Defoe sealed a memorable day for himself when Erik Edman slipped on 86 minutes and the striker found the back of the net with supreme confidence to punish the error.

Tottenham fans were then treated to a rare moment of brilliance from Bentley, who had a lot to live up to after replacing Lennon, when he curled a 30-year free kick that hit the bar and then bounced in off Kirkland's back.

Seconds from the final whistle Spurs secured their biggest ever Premier League win when the Wigan defence put in no challenges as Bentley set-up Kranjcar who blasted the ball off the underside of the bar for an incredible 9-1 victory.



 
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