Tottenham 9 Wigan 1- 5-star Defoes deadly show crushes sorry Latics at White Hart Lane
23 Nov 2009 - 10:18:25
If it is any consolation to Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, at least Harry Redknapp knows exactly how he feels.
The aftermath of this mauling provided the perfect occasion for Redknapp to recall that in his first game as manager of Bournemouth in 1982 his side were demolished 9-0 at Lincoln.
The 62-year-old has not done too badly since and Martinez can seek solace in the fact Redknapp rates him one of the most promising managers in the game. Such was his empathy with his opponent, there was certainly no over-the-top revelry from Redknapp.
Having a ball: Defoe nabbed a quickfire hat-trick
But there was also plenty of room to extol the virtues of theplayers who had just earned Tottenham's biggest win for 32 years -since winning 9-0 against Bristol Rovers in the old Second Division.
Jermain Defoe, who joined Alan Shearer and Andy Cole as the only mento net five in a Premier League game, revealed he had changed his bootsbefore kick-off.
'Adidas gave me a pair of green boots and I tried them on, but CliveAllen said I couldn't wear them, so I wore pinkish silver ones in theend and I go and score five,' he said.
1-0: Peter Crouch: 9 minutes
It was difficult to disagree with Redknapp's praise of his players.Defoe was simply awesome, Aaron Lennon crowned his return from a monthout injured with one of his best displays.
The list goes on, Peter Crouch a constant thorn in the side, NikoKranjcar silky smooth in midfield and Jonathan Woodgate solid at theback. And although Robbie Keane's claim that Tottenham's squad comparefavourably to that of Arsenal came back to haunt him, on this evidenceit appears not too far-fetched.
2-0: Jermain Defoe: 51 minutes
Considering Keane did not take to the field at all in the wake ofthe Republic of Ireland's World Cup exit in midweek, Tottenham doindeed seem to have the required depth to finally mount a sustainedchallenge for a top-four place.
They needed just 44 seconds to signal their intent, Peter Crouchunable to get his flick from Aaron Lennon's driven cross on target.Crouch was then guilty of heading Wilson Palacios' accurate cross wide.
3-0: Jermain Defoe: 54 minutes
But he made amends as early as the ninth minute when he stooped to head home Lennon's cross from close range.
Wigan had Chris Kirkland to thank for initially stemming the flow,the Wigan keeper pulling off four good quality saves. And Tottenham'searly pressure soon began to wane, earning a stern half-time talking-tofrom Redknapp. But even in the long history of Redknapp half-time teamtalks, never can his words have had such a profound effect.
4-1: Jermain Defoe: 58 minutes
Defoe began his one-man demolition job in the 52nd minute by turningin yet another Lennon cross which Titus Bramble was unable to dealwith.
Two minutes later, Defoe was demonstrating his deadly finishing oncemore, racing on to Palacios' ball that bisected Erik Edman and EmmersonBoyce before sending an angled drive in off the post.
5-1: Aaron Lennon: 64 minutes
Thoughts of record-breaking afternoons seemed a long way off,however, when Wigan pulled a goal back in highly controversial andtopical circumstances. Hugo Rodallega sent a hopeful ball into the boxand, straight from the Henry book of blatant handballs, Paul Scharnercontrolled with his forearm before leaving Heurelho Gomes with nochance from close range.
Presumably no one was more incensed than Keane with referee Peter Walton's failure to spot such an obvious infringement.
6-1: Jermain Defoe: 69 minutes
And while what was to come will not have made up for Keane's hugedisappointment at the injustice of the Stade de France, any thoughts ofSouth Africa were soon banished for one afternoon at least.
Within seven minutes of his first goal, Defoe completed the secondfastest hat-trick in Premier League history when yet another Lennoncross was buried with unerring accuracy.
8-1: Chris Kirkland og: 88 minutes
Redknapp could have been forgiven for wondering whether now was thetime to introduce Keane, the game rapidly turning into the perfectoccasion for a confidence boost.
The temptation was resisted as Lennon felt it time to get among thegoals, this time crashing a strike into the bottom corner rather thantrying to set-up a team-mate. By now Wigan's shell-shocked players weretoo stunned even to hang on to the concept of damage limitation.
Match stats TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-2): Gomes 7; Corluka 7, Dawson 7, Woodgate 7, Assou-Ekotto 7 (Bassong 82min); Lennon 8 (Bentley 79), Huddlestone 7, Palacios 7 (Jenas 84), Kranjcar 8; Crouch 7, Defoe 9.
Booked: Kranjcar.
WIGAN ATHLETIC (4-4-1-1): Kirkland 7; Melchiot 5 (Cho 86), Bramble 5, Boyce 5, Edman 4; N'Zogbia 6, Thomas 5 (Gomez 68, 5), Diame 5, Rodallega 6; Scharner 5; Scotland 5.
Man of the match: Jermain Defoe.
Referee: Peter Walton.
Having briefly relinquished the goalscoring duties, Defoe grabbedhis fourth in the 69th minute, this time opting for the near post asthe best option for Vedran Corluka's through-ball.
Remarkably, something of a lull followed, at least until the finalwhistle approached. Yet more shocking defending from Edman allowedDefoe to latch on to Kranjcar's long ball for his fifth.
Having replaced Lennon, David Bentley added to Wigan's misery, hisdipping free-kick rebounding off the bar and in off Kirkland.
With four minutes of added time to play, a ninth seemed inevitable.And when Kranjcar was given all the time in the world to turn and fireBentley's pass into the roof of the net the rout was complete.
9:1: Niko Kranjcar: Injury time
As Martinez surveys the damage this morning he would do well toconsider Redknapp's first game in the hot seat. One day the Spaniardmight also be managing a side who are genuine contenders for aChampions League place.
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