Tottenham's stuttering Premier League form continued at the DW Stadium following a 0-0 draw with Wigan.
Game of few chances sees Wigan earn a valuable point
Tottenham's stuttering Premier League form continued at the DW Stadium following a 0-0 draw with Wigan on Saturday.
Fifth-placed Spurs are now without a win in their last four league outings and face an uphill task if they are to claim UEFA Champions League status again next season.
Wigan, meanwhile, remain at the foot of the table but will take positives from the result, although they may consider themselves unfortunate not to have claimed three points.
In the absence of the injured Gareth Bale, Spurs lacked width while their counterparts appeared short of killer instinct up front.
Substitute Connor Sammon might have won it for the Latics in the closing minutes, but he shot straight at Heurelho Gomes in the Tottenham goal.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp was without injured duo Bale and William Gallas and he will have been concerned that they carried little attacking threat.
Early chances
After just five minutes, Tom Cleverley swung in a cross only for goalkeeper Gomes to get there a fraction ahead of Hugo Rodallega.
Spurs were taking time to get into their stride and Luka Modric took matters into his own hands in the 15th minute.
The playmaker burst forward and fired in a shot only to see it blocked by James McCarthy.
Back came Wigan and Maynor Figueroa delivered a fine ball into the area in the 20th minute but Rodallega just failed to get a vital touch.
A minute later, Roman Pavlyuchenko made an unsuccessful appeal for a penalty after a challenge by McCarthy although contact appeared to be outside the area in any case.
This was a better spell by Tottenham and Jermaine Jenas rattled in a shot that was taken by Latics goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.
Wigan stepped up the pace and Victor Moses twice got into good positions in quick succession but failed to test Gomes.
He got on the end of a corner from Ben Watson in the 27th minute only to a curl a shot over the top after neat footwork.
Two minutes later Charles N'Zogbia laid the ball back to Moses, but his effort was again too high.
Appeal
Moses then had an appeal for a penalty dismissed by referee Andre Marriner after appearing to have his legs clipped by Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
Wigan were then pegged back only for Al Habsi to make a comfortable block from Rafael van der Vaart.
The hosts started the second half on the front foot and Gomes did well to palm away a cross from Moses in the 49th minute. The ball broke to Rodallega but Michael Dawson blocked his effort.
Six minutes later Gomes again had to be alert to turn away Cleverley's shot from an acute angle after N'Zogbia had supplied the opening.
Redknapp decided to shake things up in the 57th minute with Peter Crouch replacing the ineffective Jermain Defoe, who remains in the hunt for his 100th Premier League goal.
The visitors were still not posing much of a threat and Redknapp looked increasingly concerned.
Crouch was quickly into the action and found space on the edge of the area in the 65th minute only to send his effort high over the bar.
Moses came off in the 66th minute and was replaced by former Kilmarnock striker Sammon.
Tottenham were beginning to step up a gear and Crouch cleared the bar with a header in the 75th minute with Sandro supplying the delivery.
With Aaron Lennon on for Van der Vaart, the visitors were looking more lively and this was a difficult test for Wigan.
However, they should have clinched victory with three minutes to go when substitute Mohamed Diame released Sammon but he directed his shot straight at Gomes.
| Wigan Athletic |
Team Statistics |
Tottenham Hotspur |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 8 |
Corners |
2 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
13 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74 |
Passing Success |
78.1 |
| 16 |
Tackles |
22 |
| 81.2 |
Tackles Success |
77.3 |
| 46.2 |
Possession |
53.8 |
| 55.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
44.5 |
|
