Tottenham Hotspur won their third consecutive game after losing their opening two games of the season.
|||Wigan, United Kingdom – Tottenham Hotspur beat 10-man Wigan Athletic 2-1 here on Saturday to record their third consecutive victory and close the gap on their rivals for Champions League qualification.
Harry Redknapp's team led 2-0 at the break through Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale, but Mohamed Diame brought the hosts back into the game with a goal in the opening stages of the second half.
Wigan's push for an equaliser was undermined by a red card shown to Ivorian defender Steve Gohouri, however, allowing Spurs to close out a win that lifted them to sixth.
Soundly beaten by Manchester United (3-0) and Manchester City (1-5) in their first two games of the season, Spurs are now just three points behind fourth-placed Newcastle with a game in hand.
Spurs eviscerated Wigan 9-1 two years ago and Roberto Martinez's side looked to be in similarly charitable mood as a careless piece of defending allowed the visitors to take the lead in the third minute.
Maynor Figueroa's weak back-pass was seized upon by Emmanuel Adebayor, who strode into the Wigan area before squaring for van der Vaart to sweep the ball into the net from 12 yards.
Adebayor blazed over moments later when presented with a clear sight of goal from Kyle Walker's cutback but Spurs did not have to wait long to double their advantage.
In the 23rd minute, Bale got across his marker at the near post to glance a header from Luka Modric's corner into the bottom-left corner.
Adebayor tested Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi with a long-range effort shortly before the interval and Martinez sported a concerned expression as the half-time whistle sounded.
The Spaniard sent on Ronnie Stam in place of Jordi Gomez at half-time and the Dutchman made an immediate impact, blocking Benoit Assou-Ekotto's attempted clearance and teeing up Diame, who held off Younes Kaboul before driving a low shot inside the left-hand post.
The goal invigorated the home side but in the 62nd minute the wind was taken from their sails when Gohouri was shown a second yellow card for cutting down Bale.
Kaboul almost extended the visitors' lead twice, sending a towering header from a left-wing corner inches over the crossbar and then rattling the bar with a deflected free-kick. – Sapa-AFP
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/spurs-revival-continues-1.1144023
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