Wigan 1-2 Tottenham: Davids off the mark
It would appear the Wigan bandwagon is beginning to grind to a halt as Robbie Keane and Edgar Davids ended Tottenham's four-match winless run by scoring the goals in a 2-1 success.
Keane scored his first for almost eight weeks, while Davids finally opened his account in English football following his free transfer arrival from Inter Milan in the summer to inflict upon Wigan back-to-back defeats following last Saturday's 3-2 loss to Arsenal, both coming at the JJB Stadium.
There was a late consolation from Lee McCulloch, but despite four minutes of injury time, there was no overall reprieve for a Latics side who have now shipped five goals in their last two games after previously conceding the same number in their opening 11 fixtures.
Crucially for Wigan boss Paul Jewell, after previously seeing his side look unflappable and virtually infallible, mistakes are now beginning to undermine the Latics' astonishing season.
Prior to the visit of the Gunners, Jewell's side had proudly boasted a stout, rock-solid defence, the foundation for all their hard work and enterprise.
But then came a 12th-minute error from goalkeeper John Filan against Arsenal, gifting them the opener in what was an enthralling encounter.
Australian Filan, who had also looked slow and ponderous when Thierry Henry struck the visitors' third via a free-kick, paid the price for his performance in being dropped to the bench for this game.
Mike Pollitt, who had started the first five matches of the season in the absence of the injured Filan, returned for his first league game since September 18.
The #250,000 summer buy from Rotherham could not have envisaged picking the ball out of his net after just eight minutes, least of all after seeing captain Arjan de Zeeuw produce an amazing blunder.
The Dutch centre-back has been the inspirational presence behind Wigan's emergence as a top-flight team to be respected following their promotion from the Coca-Cola Championship in May.
But for a split second his awareness and intuition went AWOL as he failed to either control or clear a simple long ball played from wide left inside the Spurs half by Teemu Tainio.
Keane was the man to capitalise on de Zeeuw's gaffe, the Republic of Ireland striker comfortably rounding Pollitt, who had rushed out of his area, before rolling the ball into an empty net for only his third goal of the season, and his first since October 1.
Remarkably, Pollitt was never troubled again for the remainder of the opening 45 minutes, further testament to those in front of him.
Wigan dominated in terms of possession, but Pollitt's opposite number in England goalkeeper Paul Robinson never had a save to make.
The home side came closest to an equaliser five minutes after Keane's opener, with McCulloch arriving onto a Jimmy Bullard corner with a powerful header from six yards that shaved the crossbar.
Wigan's other efforts boiled down to a trio of cracking long-range drives from midfielder Graham Kavanagh, all of which finished the wrong side of the woodwork from Wigan's point of view.
There was also an intricately-taken free-kick that involved Bullard and Kavanagh deceiving the Spurs defence and teeing up right-back Leighton Baines, but again Robinson was able to watch the ball fly past his post.
Despite Tottenham's paucity of opportunities, but for a stronger referee they could have taken a 2-0 lead into the break.
Keane was left fuming at Mike Riley for failing to award a penalty after being wrestled off the ball by Stephane Henchoz, a challenge some officials have given in the past.
The interval resulted in Wigan then losing their impetus as defences dominated the second period in front of a sometimes tetchy midfield battle, with the forwards from both sides bordering on the anonymous.
The opportunity-starved fans had to wait until the 65th minute for the first chance of the second half, culminating in a fine fingertip save from Pollitt.
Michael Carrick picked out an all-alone Tainio just inside the area with a right-wing cross, and after a touch to control, the Finland international let fly with a half volley Pollitt tipped past the post.
In an effort to get something out of the game, Jewell brought on striker David Connolly for midfielder Damien Francis in the 67th minute, switching to three in attack.
But it proved in vain because five minutes later came the game-breaking goal courtesy of Holland international Davids.
Picking the ball up 10 yards inside his own half, Davids first beat Henchoz and then sent de Zeeuw the wrong way before firing a crisp 15-yard, angled drive underneath Pollitt.
McCulloch grabbed Wigan's goal 90 seconds from time, tapping home at the far post after Robinson had pushed a driven cross from Henri Camara into his path, but it was all to no avail.
Wigan manager Paul Jewell has urged his stars to cut out the mistakes if they are to maintain their high-flying start to the season.
Dejected Wigan boss Jewell said: 'We started brightly enough, but again we make a mistake and when you do that you get punished at this level.
'We gifted them a goal and from 1-0 down we are left chasing the game.
'We have made mistakes in the last two matches now. They happen, but we have to cut them out.
'It's still a learning curve for us at this level.
'People have been saying nice things about us up until now, and I know what they are going to be saying after this .
'The whole team has been outstanding, but now we have lost to Tottenham and Arsenal I bet they are going to be saying that we're in crisis.
'But I bet a lot of teams in this league would swap places with us right
now. 'We are still third in the table and if you had offered us that before the start of the season then I would have taken it - I would be doing cartwheels down Wigan high- street.'
Jewell recognises, though, his side lacked punch in attack and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson was never tested.
'I felt we did okay, but their keeper hasn't had a save to make for all the possession we have had in the final third,' added Jewell.
'We lacked the quality on the day to hurt them, and that is something we must improve on, we have to make our pressure count.
'But I cannot be critical of the player's effort, because we kept going all the way to the end.'
Spurs manager Martin Jol was happy enough, in particular with the contribution of Davids, whose goal started from a run 10 yards inside his own half before beating Stephane Henchoz and De Zeeuw, before dispatching a crisp drive underneath Pollitt.
'He is 32, but he has great stamina,' said Jol.
'When you think he is tiring, he always comes up with that sort of thing, but I knew that anyway.
'He loves to play for this club and I think it is showing.'
Jol felt the win was merited, adding: 'This is a place that is not easy to win at.
'But in the first half we took the initiative, and then we had the quality combined with maximum effort to get a result.'
Keane scored his first for almost eight weeks, while Davids finally opened his account in English football following his free transfer arrival from Inter Milan in the summer to inflict upon Wigan back-to-back defeats following last Saturday's 3-2 loss to Arsenal, both coming at the JJB Stadium.
There was a late consolation from Lee McCulloch, but despite four minutes of injury time, there was no overall reprieve for a Latics side who have now shipped five goals in their last two games after previously conceding the same number in their opening 11 fixtures.
Crucially for Wigan boss Paul Jewell, after previously seeing his side look unflappable and virtually infallible, mistakes are now beginning to undermine the Latics' astonishing season.
Prior to the visit of the Gunners, Jewell's side had proudly boasted a stout, rock-solid defence, the foundation for all their hard work and enterprise.
But then came a 12th-minute error from goalkeeper John Filan against Arsenal, gifting them the opener in what was an enthralling encounter.
Australian Filan, who had also looked slow and ponderous when Thierry Henry struck the visitors' third via a free-kick, paid the price for his performance in being dropped to the bench for this game.
Mike Pollitt, who had started the first five matches of the season in the absence of the injured Filan, returned for his first league game since September 18.
The #250,000 summer buy from Rotherham could not have envisaged picking the ball out of his net after just eight minutes, least of all after seeing captain Arjan de Zeeuw produce an amazing blunder.
The Dutch centre-back has been the inspirational presence behind Wigan's emergence as a top-flight team to be respected following their promotion from the Coca-Cola Championship in May.
But for a split second his awareness and intuition went AWOL as he failed to either control or clear a simple long ball played from wide left inside the Spurs half by Teemu Tainio.
Keane was the man to capitalise on de Zeeuw's gaffe, the Republic of Ireland striker comfortably rounding Pollitt, who had rushed out of his area, before rolling the ball into an empty net for only his third goal of the season, and his first since October 1.
Remarkably, Pollitt was never troubled again for the remainder of the opening 45 minutes, further testament to those in front of him.
Wigan dominated in terms of possession, but Pollitt's opposite number in England goalkeeper Paul Robinson never had a save to make.
The home side came closest to an equaliser five minutes after Keane's opener, with McCulloch arriving onto a Jimmy Bullard corner with a powerful header from six yards that shaved the crossbar.
Wigan's other efforts boiled down to a trio of cracking long-range drives from midfielder Graham Kavanagh, all of which finished the wrong side of the woodwork from Wigan's point of view.
There was also an intricately-taken free-kick that involved Bullard and Kavanagh deceiving the Spurs defence and teeing up right-back Leighton Baines, but again Robinson was able to watch the ball fly past his post.
Despite Tottenham's paucity of opportunities, but for a stronger referee they could have taken a 2-0 lead into the break.
Keane was left fuming at Mike Riley for failing to award a penalty after being wrestled off the ball by Stephane Henchoz, a challenge some officials have given in the past.
The interval resulted in Wigan then losing their impetus as defences dominated the second period in front of a sometimes tetchy midfield battle, with the forwards from both sides bordering on the anonymous.
The opportunity-starved fans had to wait until the 65th minute for the first chance of the second half, culminating in a fine fingertip save from Pollitt.
Michael Carrick picked out an all-alone Tainio just inside the area with a right-wing cross, and after a touch to control, the Finland international let fly with a half volley Pollitt tipped past the post.
In an effort to get something out of the game, Jewell brought on striker David Connolly for midfielder Damien Francis in the 67th minute, switching to three in attack.
But it proved in vain because five minutes later came the game-breaking goal courtesy of Holland international Davids.
Picking the ball up 10 yards inside his own half, Davids first beat Henchoz and then sent de Zeeuw the wrong way before firing a crisp 15-yard, angled drive underneath Pollitt.
McCulloch grabbed Wigan's goal 90 seconds from time, tapping home at the far post after Robinson had pushed a driven cross from Henri Camara into his path, but it was all to no avail.
Wigan manager Paul Jewell has urged his stars to cut out the mistakes if they are to maintain their high-flying start to the season.
Dejected Wigan boss Jewell said: 'We started brightly enough, but again we make a mistake and when you do that you get punished at this level.
'We gifted them a goal and from 1-0 down we are left chasing the game.
'We have made mistakes in the last two matches now. They happen, but we have to cut them out.
'It's still a learning curve for us at this level.
'People have been saying nice things about us up until now, and I know what they are going to be saying after this .
'The whole team has been outstanding, but now we have lost to Tottenham and Arsenal I bet they are going to be saying that we're in crisis.
'But I bet a lot of teams in this league would swap places with us right
now. 'We are still third in the table and if you had offered us that before the start of the season then I would have taken it - I would be doing cartwheels down Wigan high- street.'
Jewell recognises, though, his side lacked punch in attack and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson was never tested.
'I felt we did okay, but their keeper hasn't had a save to make for all the possession we have had in the final third,' added Jewell.
'We lacked the quality on the day to hurt them, and that is something we must improve on, we have to make our pressure count.
'But I cannot be critical of the player's effort, because we kept going all the way to the end.'
Spurs manager Martin Jol was happy enough, in particular with the contribution of Davids, whose goal started from a run 10 yards inside his own half before beating Stephane Henchoz and De Zeeuw, before dispatching a crisp drive underneath Pollitt.
'He is 32, but he has great stamina,' said Jol.
'When you think he is tiring, he always comes up with that sort of thing, but I knew that anyway.
'He loves to play for this club and I think it is showing.'
Jol felt the win was merited, adding: 'This is a place that is not easy to win at.
'But in the first half we took the initiative, and then we had the quality combined with maximum effort to get a result.'
posted by dgarden at 8:50 am
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