-        login_form = {
-            'a': 'login',
-            'cookie': '1',
-            'username': username,
-            'password': password,
-        }
-        request = sanitized_Request(self._LOGIN_URL, urlencode_postdata(login_form))
-        request.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8')
-
-        login = self._download_json(request, None, 'Logging in as %s' % username)
+        login = self._download_json(
+            self._LOGIN_URL, None, 'Logging in',
+            data=urlencode_postdata({
+                'a': 'login',
+                'cookie': '1',
+                'username': username,
+                'password': password,
+            }),
+            headers={
+                'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8',
+            })