| Tottenham Hotspur | 3-1 | Wigan Athletic |
| (2-0) | ||
| Bale 10 | McArthur 80 | |
| Modric 34 | ||
| Bale 64 | ||
Tottenham Hotspur closed the gap between themselves and the top of the table – and drew away from fourth placed Chelsea – by winning 3-1 over Wigan Athletic at White Hart Lane on the evening of Tuesday 31st January 2012.
A Gareth Bale brace either side of a Luka Modric thunderbolt were enough to give Spurs the three points despite Wigan grabbing a late consolation through James McArthur.
It was Modric who made the first two goals, first by playing in Gareth Bale with a wonderful pass, which the Welshman brought down with his chest before volleying home on 29 minutes; next, Modric got on the scoresheet himself by slamming home from 20 yards just 5 minutes later. Tottenham led 2-0 at half time as a result of the man Harry Redknapp has fought so hard to keep at White Hart Lane in recent transfer windows.
In the second half, Spurs secured the points when Bale added his second of the night, and Tottenham’s third, in the 64th minute. Following a slow start to the second period, Bale hit the bottom corner of the Wigan goal to give the hosts an unassailable cushion with under half an hour remaining.
James McArthur scored with an impressive chipped finish on 80 minutes, but, by then, it was too little, too late, and Tottenham would finish the match 3-1 winners.
The three points means that Spurs are once more just 5 points from the league’s summit thanks to Man City’s loss away at Everton. They also put another two points between them and Chelsea, who are fourth, as the Blues could only muster a draw at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium.
