Spurs hang on as Diame fires Wigan revival

Wigan Athletic 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2: Redknapp's side switch off after goals from Van der Vaart and Bale establish early dominance

Tottenham were so much in controlat the interval of this awkward fixture that the decent following who had journeyed up the M1 and M6 were sensing a rout at least as emphatic as the one against a depleted Liverpool a week earlier.

Wigan's unsure defence had looked like caving in altogether in the face of probing thrusts by a slick-moving Spurs as early goals by Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale emphasised an alarming gulf in class.

Then one moment of uncertainty in the Spurs defence similar to the succession of blunders they had seen work in their favour transformed the mood of both sides. Mohamed Diamé pounced on a hashed clearance by Benoît Assou-Ekotto and, turning confidently on the edge of the penalty area, shot low and decisively past a startled Brad Friedel, who until then had enjoyed a watching brief.

The goal, outrageously against the run of play, suggested to Wigan's lethargic players that some reward for their unsatisfactory contributionwas not out of the question. Even the sending-off of Steve Gohouri for his second bookable challenge on Bale failed to stem the flow of Wigan attacks, and in the end Harry Redknapp's men were happy to hold their rivals at arm's length rather than seek to improve the margin of their latest Premier League success.

Redknapp was left to reflect on the accuracy of his half-time pep talk. "I told the lads that the only way Wigan were going to get back into the game was by us doing something stupid, and that's what happened," he said.

"It was complete dominance in that first half and we should have been three or four up. And then in the end it was a bit too close for comfort.

"The goal changed everything. The crowd started to get behind Wigan after earlier giving them some stick and their players ran their socks off in an effort to get back at us. But to be fair, our goalkeeper didn't have too much to do.

"We are happy. That's nine points out of nine and we are on a good run."

Roberto Martinez, Wigan's manager, gave his customary honest acknowledgement of his team's failings. "I feel tactically we did not cope, and it was important that we regrouped at half-time and had some sort of reaction to our problems," he said. "I thought we were really bright in the second half, and almost got back into it."

Spurs needed only three minutes to make their mark against opponents who look destined for as tough a job as ever to preserve their elite status. Maynor Figueroa's mistake was pounced on by Emmanuel Adebayor, who went on to turn in another performance which will make his former Arsenal connections easier for his new fans to forget.

The two-goal hero of the win over Liverpool this time turned provider, and a grateful Van der Vaart produced a clinical finish to the striker's lay-off from inside the penalty area.

Twenty minutes later Spurs were in complete command. Nobody in the home defence committed themselves to dealing with Luka Modric's right-wing corner and Bale leapt unchallenged to guide a neat header past Ali Al Habsi.

Wigan failed to learn from that abject example of set-piece defending and in identical circumstances were caught out again from the next Modric corner.

This time Bale was off target with his header from close range, otherwise the runaway win that Spurs were shaping up for would probably have become reality.

Wigan (4-4-2): Al Habsi; Gohouri, Caldwell, Figueroa, Van Aanholt; Gomez (Stam, h-t), Moses, Watson (McArthur, 74) McCarthy; Diamé, Di Santo (Sammon, 74).

Tottenham (4-4-2): Friedel; Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto; Modric, Parker, Sandro (Livermore, 90), Bale; Adebayor, Van der Vaart (Dos Santos, 79).

Referee Jonathan Moss.

Man of the match Bale (Tottenham).