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Match Analysis: Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Wigan Athletic

Match Analysis: Spurs 0-1 Wigan
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Sports Mole takes a closer look at how Wigan Athletic were able to come away from White Hart Lane with all three points.

Wigan Athletic recorded their second win at White Hart Lane this afternoon thanks to Ben Watson's second-half strike.

Tottenham Hotspur were looking to cement their place in the top four of the Premier League, but produced a lacklustre display in front of a frustrated home following.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at how Roberto Martinez engineered victory in north London.

Match statistics:

Spurs:
Shots 13
On target 5
Possession 51%
Corners 9
Fouls 13

Wigan:
Shots 7
On target 3
Possession 49%
Corners 2
Fouls 12

Was the result fair?

Yes, Spurs can have no complaints. Steven Caulker had a header cleared off the line by James McCarthy, but they never really troubled Wigan's goal. Thoroughly deserved victory for Roberto Martinez's men.

Spurs' performance

5/10. The hosts were outplayed in the first 45 minutes and should probably have been 2-0 down at half-time. They had Brad Freidel to thank for that. The American first kept out Arouna Kone before rushing to deny Shaun Maloney as he strode through on goal. Spurs stepped it up after Ben Watson's goal but still couldn't find a way through. Jermain Defoe hardly had a touch before he was replaced by Emmanuel Adebayor before the hour mark, much to the crowd's dismay. It was an unusual substitution given that they were chasing the game at the time. Gareth Bale plugged away but did not look his usual self. The man who can come away with his head held reasonably high is Jan Vertonghen. He bombed down the left and looked like Tottenham's only real threat. All in all, it was a bit of a flat performance with no real attacking bite.

Wigan's performance

9/10. The Latics were fantastic today. The only real complaint can be that they should have won by more. They defended astutely, getting plenty of men behind the ball when needed, and looked dangerous going forward. Ben Watson, Shaun Maloney and James McCarthy ran the midfield, while Arouna Kone was full of running in attack. He played more of a wide role while Franco Di Santo played through the middle. As already stated, they should have been leading 2-0 at half-time, but did not let those missed chances come back to haunt them as Watson finally opened the scoring in the 55th minute. Martinez made a tactical substitution in bringing off Di Santo for Jordi Gomez, opting for an extra body in midfield. It proved to be a good choice, as Spurs poured forward but were denied any space in the final third.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Arouna Kone: There were no bad performances for Wigan today, but the Ivorian was a constant menace today and quite rightly takes the plaudits here.

Referee performance

Martin Atkinson let the game flow and there were no bad decisions. He had a good game.

What next?

Spurs: Andre Villas-Boas takes his side to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City next Sunday.

Wigan: The Latics host West Bromwich Albion at the DW Stadium on Saturday.

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Written by
Michael Penkman
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