Tottenham revived their Premier League campaign with a comfortable victory at White Hart Lane, as Wigan remained rooted to the foot of the table.
The visitors had early moments of promise but Gareth Bale chested down Luka Modric's sublime crossfield pass to volley Spurs ahead from 10 yards.
The influential Modric made it two with a powerful 20-yard shot on the turn.
After a quiet spell in the second half, Bale found the bottom corner, before James McArthur chipped a consolation.
The closing minutes might have been less straightforward for Spurs had substitute Conor Sammon not failed to make contact with a Ronnie Stam cross from the right when in front of goal inside the six-yard box.
But although casual on occasions, the Lilywhites demonstrated more than enough quality to deserve their victory, ending a run of two league matches without a win and moving within five points of the leaders.
As expected, Spurs dominated possession from the outset, although in the opening half-hour their best chances were two Younes Kaboul headers from corners, one smartly pushed aside by Ali Al Habsi, the other cleared off the line by James McCarthy.
Unlike many visitors to N17 this season, Wigan were not simply content to defend their goal.
Franco Di Santo was a fraction away from making contact with a Stam cross that would surely have put his team ahead, while Victor Moses drifted through the heart of the Spurs defence and threaded a pass to Jordi Gomez in space, but he could not control the ball.
However with Tottenham's array of talent a goal for the home side was always likely.
Superb vision from Modric picked out Bale, who ghosted in from the right, controlled the pass and hooked a volley beyond Al Habsi for his 13th goal of the season.
Bale might have had a second before the break, collecting a delightful ball from Niko Kranjcar in his stride and forcing Al Habsi to push away his angled shot.
But Modric soon obliged, fortunate to collect a ricochet but clinical in dispatching