November 23rd, 2009 by Phil Lythell

Tottenham are on cloud nine after dispatching Wigan Athletic with the second largest margin of victory in Barclays Premier League history.

Only Manchester United’s 9-0 demolition of Ipswich Town in 1995 is greater than the thrashing handed out by the north London team on Sunday. The hero of the day was Jermain Defoe. The England striker bagged a remarkable five goals in a mere 36 minutes to take home the match ball and shoot to the top of the goalscoring charts.

In all, nine goals were scored in the second-half as Peter Crouch’s headed opener was all that separated the sides at half-time and three goals were scored in the last three minutes of the match alone.

Wigan have had an erratic campaign so far under new coach Roberto Martinez. They opened the season with a win away at Aston Villa and destroyed Chelsea’s 100% record by betting the leaders 3-1 at the DW Stadium. Conversely they also gave Portsmouth their first win of the season when they got hammered 4-0 at Fratton Park and this latest annihilation will certainly leave the coaching staff scratching their heads.

The players are so embarrasses by the heavy defeat that they have offered to refund their travelling supporters for the cost of their tickets – a remarkably generous gesture in this era of greed

The Latics have two home games – against Sunderland and Birmingham respectively – to steady the ship while Spurs will be looking to carry on their deadly form all the way to their London derby against Fulham on Boxing Day.

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