Tottenham 9-1 Wigan Athletic

There is no coping with Tottenham Hotspur on occasions such as these. Spurs seared back into a Champions League qualification place here with a second-half destruction of Wigan that took the breath, Jermain Defoe plundering a hat-trick in seven minutes and later adding two more as home players revelled in the ease of it all. Local conviction that a top-four finish remains a possibility no longer feels far-fetched.

As dishevelled as Wigan's back-line was, their centre-halves sinking without trace and the full-backs melting when confronted by pace and trickery, Tottenham were utterly irresistible. The first-half display had only hinted at a rout, Peter Crouch's early headed goal setting a tone that Spurs initially struggled to maintain, though the cricket score was duly rattled up in the latter stages. The hosts, staggeringly, scored eight after the break. Wigan are only 31 years a Football League club, but this debacle represented their worst-ever league defeat.

As ridiculous as it sounds, they ended lucky only to ship the nine. Defoe drew the focus with the second fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, pilfered expertly in exactly seven minutes, though the architects of this success were arguably the hosts' majestic wingers. Niko Kranjcar's delivery was superb from the left, the Croat capping a superb performance with the through-balls for Defoe to secure his fourth and fifth rewards of the afternoon and the ninth for himself, converted via the bar on the turn.

On the opposite flank, however, Aaron Lennon was simply irrepressible. The England winger, returning to the team after an ankle problem, set up Crouch for the opener then presented Defoe with his first six minutes after the interval. He repeated that trick for the striker's third, Defoe having converted from Wilson Palacios' pass in between, before adding the goal his own display deserved with yet another low, diagonal shot through the exposed Chris Kirkland.

Defoe's fourth and fifth were virtually identical, Wigan's composure shot to pieces with Erik Edman badly at fault and Emmerson Boyce labouring, before the substitute David Bentley's free-kick cannoned into the net via the woodwork and the back of Kirkland's head. Lost amid the glut of goals was Paul Scharner's lone reward, a goal scored after a Thierry Henry-like handball. Wigan ended shellshocked and embarrassed. For Spurs, their goal difference suddenly approaching a healthy standard even in comparison to third-placed Arsenal, the pursuit of a top-four finish has gathered pace.

FAI chief tells 'sad' Keane to 'move on'

• 'It's time for Keane to learn from the past, not live with it'
• 'It's very sad to see' says Delaney of Keane's outburst

The Football Association of Ireland chief executive, John Delaney, has described Roy Keane's outburst against Ireland on Friday as "sad" and urged the former Republic of Ireland captain to "move on".

Ipswich manager Keane had little sympathy for the FAI's campaign to have their controversial World Cup play-off against France replayed following Thierry Henry's handball and said "what goes around comes around". Keane's antipathy towards the FAI stems back to the Pacific island of Saipan seven years ago, when he left the team's pre-World Cup training camp, complaining that the facilities were sub-standard.

"People seem to forget what was going on in that World Cup, and that man [Delaney] is on about honesty. I was one of the players and he didn't have the courtesy to ring me," the former Sunderland manager said on Friday in a furious outburst. "I'd been involved with Ireland since I was 15 years of age and that man didn't have the decency to make a phone call. He could have phoned me, of course he could have."

However, Delaney said this afternoon that Keane should move on from the affair, telling Sky Sports News: "It's just a side-show. We've all moved on from Saipan – Niall Quinn, Mick McCarthy, the FAI and all the players, but it seems to me that he [Keane] hasn't. It's time for him now, in my opinion, to learn from the past, not live with it.

"I really thought the images shown around the world on Friday were very sad. It's sad to see a great former player reflected in the manner as he did. It's time to forget about Saipan and move on, because everyone else has."

A right caning; as Wednesday get six of the best!

Reading suffer a setback

Drum Train fills the gap

Wonderful Doyle does the hat trick!