SOCCER/Tottenham 3 Wigan 1:A BRIGHT start to the New Year for Tottenham after a miserable end to 2008 but this victory came at a cost.
Roman Pavlyuchenko and Luka Modric sealed the side's progression to the fourth round of the FA Cup with second-half goals but an injury to Darren Bent will perhaps hold greater significance, sharpening Harry Redknapp's eagerness to prise Jermain Defoe from Portsmouth.
These teams meet each other next weekend in the league and received wisdom was that, for very different reasons, that would be where their priorities lay. Yet defying expectations has been the hallmark of their campaigns this season - happily for Wigan, less so for stuttering Spurs - and last night both began with line-ups that were almost as strong as injuries would permit.
If Harry Redknapp's selection could be interpreted as proof of his determination to cling on to the trophy he finally lifted last year, his formation could perhaps be construed either as a desperation measure following five games without a win or as a rehearsal for what will happen if he is successful in his pursuit of Jermain Defoe, whose best goals during his last stint at White Hart Lane were relayed on the stadium's giant screens before the match.
Redknapp deployed a two-man strikeforce - a configuration he has previously insisted cannot work with Modric in the side - Pavlyuchenko and Bent perhaps being given the opportunity to audition for the role of Defoe's sidekick.
Bent's chance would soon be aborted as a groin injury forced him to limp off after 26 minutes. On came Frazier Campbell and up, you suspect, went Redknapp's desire for Defoe.
It was Tottenham's problems at the other end, however, that were exposed early on as Antonio Valencia cantered down the left and sent in a cross that Henri Camara was able to meet unchallenged. Luckily for the hosts, the Senegalese nodded wide from six yards.
Wigan gained early dominion in midfield as two cut-price recruits, Valencia and Wilson Palacios, showcased the sort of value that every manager will seek to secure this January. Shorn of the injured Amr Zami and Emile Heskey, Wigan struggled to translate their possession into shots and the next one of note came from the hosts as Gareth Bale curled a 25-yard free-kick over the bar on 18 minutes.
Two minutes later Kevin Kilbane almost gifted Spurs a goal as he clumsily diverted an innocuous David Bentley cross just past his own post.
Tit-for-tat attacking continued but both sides' lack of a cutting edge was stark and on a callously cold night in north London it began to look like the biggest threat to the goalkeepers would be hypothermia.
In the 45th minute Modric did at least test Richard Kingson's ability to move as he swivelled on the edge of the box and hit a tame shot that the keeper stooped to gather comfortably.
Moments later the Ghanaian keeper dived full length at a long-range Bentley shot but did not need to touch it as it flew into the side-netting.
Kingson found himself in hot water just after the break. After a burst by Bale the ball ran to Campbell, who rounded the Ghanaian before being pulled down.
Referee Alan Wiley decided a yellow card was sufficient punishment but Pavlyuchenko was less lenient, emphatically converting the penalty. Four minutes later the keeper redeemed himself with a flying save from a close-range Campbell header.
Modric then sealed the victory in freakish fashion. Jamie O'Hara's 25-yard shot hit the post in the 77th minute and the Croatian, who had fallen over in his attempt to avoid the original effort, headed the rebound into the net from a prostrate position.
In the 88th minute Henri Camara gave Spurs a belated reminder of their defensive vulnerability when he profited from a goalmouth scramble to rifle the ball into the net. Pavlyuchenko made sure the evening finished on a high by firing into the net from 25 yards.
TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Corluka, Woodgate, Dawson, Bale, Bentley, Modric (Lennon 90), Zokora, O'Hara, Bent (Campbell 27), Pavlyuchenko. Subs not used: Alnwick, Ghaly, Gunter, Taarabt, Boateng.
WIGAN: Kingson, Boyce, Bramble, Scharner (Figueroa 73), Kilbane, Valencia, De Ridder (Cywka 74), Brown, Palacios, Kapo (Edman 84), Camara. Subs not used: Pollitt, Taylor, Routledge, Holt. Booked: Palacios, Kingson.
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).
