Wigan humiliatingly concede nine at Tottenham

by Pat McGatt. Published Mon 23 Nov 2009 11:21

Ironically, going into half-time the Latics had been in the ascendancy even though the home side led 1-0 through a header early on from Peter Crouch.

However, from the restart the ball only moved in one direction as Tottenham hit a very deep purple patch, stepping up the tempo after inexplicably taking the foot off the gas in the first half.

And how they stepped it up. On-fire striker Jermain Defoe gorged himself, scoring five to equal the record set by Manchester United’s Andrew Cole and Newcastle’s Alan Shearer. He could easily have had more.

The Latics pulled a goal back through Paul Scharner which had echoes of Thierry Henry’s controversial misdemeanour in mid-week for France against Ireland.

His control of the ball before striking home had a strong whiff of hand-ball. However, on this occasion the result was never in any doubt.

Aaron Lennon scored with a low strike after having again bamboozled Wigan full-back Erik Edman for the umpteenth occasion.

Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland scored an unfortunate own goal following a fine curling free-kick from David Bentley and Niko Krancjar completed the rout in stoppage time.

It is the first time a team has scored nine in a Premier League fixture since Manchester United thrashed Ipswich 9-0 at old Trafford in 1995.