Barclays Premier League: Wigan Athletic seal their first win at White Hart Lane
Wigan Athletic earned their first win of the season as they managed a surprising 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. Hugo Rodallega was the hero for Wigan as he scored in the second half to hand his side their first win at White Hart Lane, and their first three points in the new Premier League season.
Steve Gohouri and Antolin Alcaraz were the other players who came very close to scoring; Gohouri hit the bar, while Alcaraz shot wide. The home side were not in their usual form, as only Jermaine Defoe came close to scoring and that too in the first half.
The England international received Assou-Ekotto’s pass and accurately spun, only to shoot straight at keeper, Ali Al Habsi. His second attempt was just as brilliantly executed, at the edge of the penalty area he managed to dodge two defenders and flicked the ball towards the goal, his shot with the outside of his right boot ended up going wide.
Considering that this was the same Spurs side that had beaten Young Boys 4-0 in the mid-week Champions League play off and had qualified for the Champions League, their performance was very poor. Wigan however, performed very well; they had a solid defence and a commendable attack.
The last trip to White Hart Lane was a bit of a disaster for Wigan, the Latics were hammered 9-1 with Defoe scoring five on that occasion. The start of this season was not too much better as Wigan lost 4-0 and 6-0 in their opening fixtures of the Premier League, but with the win today they are on their way to regaining some confidence, along with some points.
Wigan were the side controlling the game at the beginning and could have scored on various occasions, but despite their unexpected poor form Spurs held on. Gohouri’s six yard volley could have easily put the visitors ahead, but Spurs managed to survive that and maintain a clean sheet.
It was the injured Defoe who presented the home side with their best opportunities of the match. The player had delayed his groin surgery to participate in the mid week Champions League fixture and decided to play in today’s match but despite his efforts, Spurs failed to even equalize.
Peter Crouch, Spurs other attacking option suffered an injury towards the end of the first half and had to be replaced at the half time break. Spurs boss, Harry Redknapp tried to change his tactics as he brought on Roman Pavlyuchenko for the injured Crouch. However, even the replacement could not turn things around for the Spurs.
It was Alcaraz who got things going for Wigan, his shot from six yards seemed impossible to miss, but he managed somehow. Spurs were still recovering from the almost goal when Rodallega found the back of the net, while second choice goal keeper Carlo Cudicini could not do much to save the shot.
Tottenham Hotspurs: Carlo Cudicini, Ledley King, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul, Gareth Bale, Tom Huddlestone, Wilson Palacios, Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch
Subs: Ben Alnwick, Sebastien Bassong, Jermaine Jenas, Giovani Dos Santos, Niko Krancar, Robbie Keane, Roman Pavlyuchenko
Wigan Athletic: Ali Al Habsi, Emmerson Boyce, Antolin Alcaraz, Maynor Figueroa, Ronnie Stam, Steve Gohouri, Mohamed Diame, Hendry Thomas, James McCarthy, Mauro Boselli, Hugo Rodallega
Subs: Mike Pollitt, Steven Caldwell, Jordan Mustoe, Ben Watson, James McArthur, Jordi Gomez, Callum McManaman
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