Tottenham 3-1 Wigan: Harry's got Bale

Boyo wonder Gareth Bale fired Tottenham back in the title race - and Harry Redknapp was dancing in the dark instead of sitting in the dock.

It might be the Chinese Year of the Dragon in 2012, but every year is the year of the dragon for proud Welshmen.

After Bale had bagged his 10th and 11th goals of the season, Redknapp hailed his "unstoppable" winger as Spurs closed the gap to five points on leaders Manchester City.

In a north London parish where the hymnbook includes seventies anthem Nice One Cyril, it should be adapted in appreciation of Bale's talents - Nice One Cymru.

And as Spurs messiah Redknapp was rewarded for his race across town from Southwark crown court, where his trial on tax evasion charges continues, the manager and his flock were united in celebration: 'Arry's got Bale.

Redknapp enjoyed the floor show, performing a little jig in his technical area as Tottenham:

"I kept dancing around like a two-year-old - it was good to get on my feet again, I've been sitting down all week.

"Bale was amazing again. He's an amazing talent, unstoppable when he's in that mood. And the fans were great, I really appreciated it."

Redknapp's deadline-day transfer business may have been an antiques roadshow, with 34-year-old Ryan Nelsen and Louis Saha, 33, arriving to replace Roman Pavlyuchenko and Sebastien Bassong, but make no mistake: Spurs are back in business.

After the frustration of dropped points at home to Wolves, unjust defeat at City and floodlit robbery in the FA Cup at Watford, Bale's sublime finishing was cold comfort in the White Hart Lane deep freeze.

Wigan had already survived two close calls from Younes Kaboul headers at set pieces when Luka Modric picked the lock with a divine crossfield pass after 28 minutes.

Bale took it on his chest and his finish was cooler than an icy blast from Siberia.

Redknapp enjoyed that manoeuvre, and the White Hart Lane choir had barely finished serenading him with a chorus of "He pays what he wants, he's Harry Redknapp, he pays what he wants," when Wigan were breached again.

The visitors dealt with Benoit Assou-Ekotto's left-wing cross with all the expertise of a fishwife putting the cat out, and from the moment the ball ricocheted off Jordi Gomez to Modric, 20 yards out, neither the resting place of his shot nor the destination of the points was in any doubt.

In fairness, none of the visiting fans manacled himself to the goalposts like that bizarre protester at Goodison Park.

Such was the poverty of Wigan's scavenging, however, that we can only assume there was an acute shortage of handcuffs in north London.

Roberto Martinez is a civilised, articulate manager, but for all the funfair rides on Wigan Pier, his team looks a spent force. A perfect fit for the wooden spoon like Cinderella was a perfect fit for glass slippers.

Seven seasons in the Premier League is a wonderful achievement for a rugby league stronghold, but surely they have used up their full quota of great escapes.

And when Bale collected Assou-Ekotto's pass from the touchline, shifted it on to his left foot and drove a wonderful shot across Al Habsi into the far corner, they were cooked.

James McArthur's first-ever Premier League goal, 10 minutes from time, gave the Latics a token souvenir of another forlorn excursion, but it was never going to spoil Redknapp getting jiggy.

"That was our whole season rolled into 90 minutes," lamented Martinez. "From our point of view, it wasn't a good idea to play a match on deadline day because it becomes a bit of a circus - and one of my players (Hugo Rodallega) was caught up in the speculation, which is not right."

TOTTENHAM: Friedel 6, Walker 7 (Sandro, 75), Kaboul 8, King 6, Assou-Ekotto 5, Parker 6, Kranjcar 5, Modric 8, Bale 8, Van der Vaart 5 (Livermore, 31, 6), Adebayor 5 (Lancaster, 79).

WIGAN: Al Habsi 6, Stam 6, Boyce 6, Caldwell 6, Figueroa 6, McCarthy 4, Watson 6 (Crusat, 87), Gomez 4 (McArthur, 70), Beausejour 5, Moses 5, Di Santo 5 (Samnmon, 74).

ATTENDANCE: 35,801

REFEREE: Lee Probert

MAN OF THE MATCH: Gareth Bale - Genius wrapped in a left foot