United strikers red hot at Wigan
Andre Villas-Boas saw his side fall behind to a Pavel Pogrebnyak effort in the fourth minute, but Michael Dawson headed the hosts level in the ninth minute and Emmanuel Adebayor edged them ahead six minutes into the second half.
Clint Dempsey made the points safe, with his shot benefiting from a deflection as it beat Adam Federici for the third Tottenham goal in the 79th minute.
“It was important for him today to score,” said Villas-Boas of Adebayor. “He had a couple of situations recently against Sunderland and Villa, it was important for him to get back into the goals. Strikers live off goals, it was important for him to score. You see him trying like Jermain Defoe, Clint, and how decisive he is also.
“They want to get in the box, they breathe off scoring goals and it will give him a boost for sure.”
Danny Graham cracked home a late equaliser for Swanseaagainst Aston Villato earn a 2-2 draw.
Visitors Villa had fallen behind to Wayne Routledge’s ninth-minute finish, after he surged clear of a static defence to round goalkeeper Brad Guzan. But the outlook improved for Paul Lambert’s side just before the break when Andreas Weimann netted an equaliser in the 44th minute.
Christian Benteke’s penalty after Nathan Dyer’s foul on Weimann put Villa ahead, as they looked to banish memories of dismal recent results. But Graham had the final say, his powerful finish with time running out sparking delight among home supporters at the Liberty Stadium.
A third-minute penalty from Mark Noble and Republic of Ireland defender Joey O’Brien’s strike in the 26th minute gave West Hama 2-0 cushion against Norwichat Upton Park. Russell Martin pulled one back for Norwich late in the second half but the Canaries could not find a leveller.
“The key decisions in the game did not go in our favour, but we did not start well enough,” said Norwich manager Chris Hughton, who confronted referee Mark Clattenburg as he left the pitch at both half-time and following the full-time whistle. “We accept Ryan Bennett had hold of the lad’s shirt, but I also saw Reid’s forearm in Ryan’s chest. They are very close, he is not pulling Reid so he cannot get away, it is something you see game in and game out right throughout the country.
“On almost every occasion you do not see a penalty, particularly when it is so early in the game, so I was very surprised when he gave it. I also don’t accept it was not a foul on Alex Tettey leading up to the second goal and certainly was a handball in the first half and then the incident on Harry Kane.
“We have been on the end of poor decisions today.”
Earlier, Fulhameased their relegation worries as Alexander Kacaniklic’s second-half goal earned them a 2-1 win at West Brom.
The Cottagers had slid towards the bottom three after winning only one of their previous 12 games but were well worth their second away success of the campaign.
Dimitar Berbatov’s seventh goal of the season gave the Cottagers a half-time lead and although Romelu Lukaku levelled after the break, Kacaniklic restored the visitors’ advantage in the 58th minute.
