A Game of Two Halves

A trip to Wigan is always an interesting prospect, but the result is never a foregone conclusion. Some years we have been there and won comfortably, and other years we have simply failed to deliver at the DW stadium, you just never know what you are going to get. With our season starting to take shape, hopes were high that we could get another away win and push for the top half of the premiership.

We could not have got off to a better start with a mistake at the back by Figueroa, pounced on by Adebayor, who unselfishly crossed the ball square to Van der Vaart to score. GOAL, 1-nil up after 3 minutes...

Was this going to be another nine goal epic...?

Wigan looked very shaky at the back and Spurs were soon in ascendency, moving the ball around at will and playing the game effectively in the oppositions half.  One-nil is never a safe place to be with Spurs and even though we had lots of build up play, that all important second goal could not come along soon enough. I didn’t have to wait too long..... A well taken corner from Modric was met by flying Bale, running a diagonal across the box to plant a well struck header past a helpless Al Habsi. Woo Hoo.... 2-nil and now we were getting in our stride....

As in previous matches, Spurs have spells in the game were they are so in control, that another goal seems imminent, and how we didn't score before the break is beyond me. After Half time, Martinez made a change by replacing Gomez with Ronnie Stam, and the Dutchman made an immediate impact as he played a crucial role in a Wigan goal.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto's is usually imperious at the back form Spurs but from time-to-time he seems to lose a bit of focus and hit wild passes or make rash tackles. This time his attempted clearance at the edge of the box was knocked down by Stam, and the ball made its way to Diame, who brushed easily passed Kaboul to drive a low shot inside the left-hand post.

Suddenly Spurs had gone from being totally in control, to running around like headless chickens, and the one goal lead looked in trouble. Fortunately Gohouri was shown a second yellow card for another tough tackle on Bale, and Wigan's day was over.

Of course Spurs should have extended the lead, but once again we slipped into a low gear and started to play out the remaining time, even if Kaboul hit the crossbar with a free kick.

I can't say I was overly impressed with the game as even when we were 2-nil up, I still felt sure that we were going to concede, and when we did or shape dissolved and we looked even more likely to let one in. As in previous games, when the opposition go a man down, Spurs lose the killer-instinct, we really need to learn to put things to bed.

Still it was a 3 point away win that took us up to 6th place in the Prem, so it was not all bad...

My Player ratings :-

• Friedel  - 8.0 - Once again very solid between the sticks. Could do nothing about the goal
• Bale  - 7.5 - Coming back to form with some great runs and a well taken header
• Kaboul - 7.5 - Maybe could have done better on the goal, but overall played well
• King - 7.5 - Another Rolls-Royce performance
• Walker - 8.0 - Now starting show strongly on the right, excellent all round
• BAE - 6.5 - His uncharacteristic mistake led to the Wigan goal
• Parker - 7.5 - Dependable defending the midfield, starting to look dangerous going forward
• VdV - 7.5 - Great opening goal, but tailed off later in the game as usual
• Giovani - 5.0 - Still no great break-through from Jimmy Two Saints
• Modric - 7.0 - Cultured midfield general coming back to his best
• Sandro - 7.0 - Strong and disruptive, shame about the hair
• Livermore - 6.5 - Looked lively from off the bench again, needs more game time
• Adebayor - 7.5 - Starting to bring all the qualities that made us hate him as a Gooner