Silky, sulky Berbatov shows his true class but bungling Bent has howler

Say what you like about the Bulgarian, you can't take your eyes off him. He scored his 23rd goal of the season with an elegant volley that marks him out as special and could have had a hat-trick.

But whenever there was a misplaced pass from a team-mate, there was the whole range of gestures from sulky hands-on-hips to waving his arms around in exasperation.

Berbatov could be on his way for £30million — roughly the cost to Wigan if they go down.

It shouldn't happen but with Bolton winning, there is still some anxiety at the JJB Stadium, not helped by Marcus Bent missing a sitter that would have virtually assured survival.

Bent is the fortunate chap dating former Hollyoaks babe Gemma Atkinson and he'll have to endure plenty of jibes about scoring more off the pitch following his moment of horror.

With the game balanced at 1-1 on the hour, a sliderule pass from Wilson Palacios split open the Spurs defence. Bent ran on with only Radek Cerny to beat and, with the keeper's positioning giving him two-thirds of the goal to aim at, the Wigan striker looked certain to score.

He had plenty of time to pass the ball into the net but instead he hit and hoped, and the ball smashed off the crossbar.

The Latics are five points clear of the drop zone but with a relegation six pointer against Reading next weekend followed by difficult fixtures against chap currently dating former Hollyoaks babe Gemma Atkinson and he will have to endure plenty of jibes about scoring more off the pitch following his moment of horror on the hour.

With the game balanced at 1-1, a perfect pass from Wilson Palacios completely split the Spurs defence. Bent ran on with only Radek Cerny to beat.

With the goalkeeper's strange positioning giving him two-thirds of the goal to aim at, Bent looked certain to score. He had plenty of time to pass the ball into the net but, instead, he hit and hoped, and the ball smashed off the bar to Bruce's dismay. 'Football is about fine margins,' he said. 'A couple of inches lower, it would have been our day.'

Tottenham had taken the lead after six minutes. A fantastic crossfield pass by Tom Huddlestone allowed Aaron Lennon to run at makeshift left-back Kevin Kilbane. It was a complete mismatch and the winger crossed into the danger zone, where Berbatov lazily stretched out a right boot to send the ball past Chris Kirkland like a rocket.

Wigan needed a quick response and they got one after 12 minutes. Kilbane crossed from the left and Emile Heskey turned sharply to shoot past Cerny from 15 yards for his fourth goal of the season.

Antonio Valencia was denied by Cerny as Wigan chased the goal to guarantee survival. It did not happen and they will have to fret for at least another week. One suspects Tottenham will be fretting over Berbatov for longer than that.