Gareth Bale fired Tottenham into third place in the Premier League as his sublime last minute goal capped a majestic performance in a 3-2 win over West Ham at Upton Park on Monday.
Bale has been in the form of his life in recent weeks and the Wales winger added another chapter to his growing legend with a brilliant brace that would surely have been appreciated by Hammers legend Bobby Moore, whose death 20 years ago was marked by a moving pre-match tribute.
Moore, regarded as one of the best defenders in the history of the game, famously captained England to World Cup glory in 1966 and also led West Ham to FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup triumphs.
Photo: AFP
However, even Moore might have been hard pressed to subdue Bale in this mood.
Bale had given Spurs a first half lead, but an Andy Carroll penalty and Joe Cole’s strike put West Ham ahead by the hour mark.
Gylfi Sigurdsson came off the bench to equalize and Bale produced a simply remarkable long-range winner to move Tottenham, unbeaten in their past 11 league games, two points clear of Chelsea and four ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal, who visit White Hart Lane on Sunday.
“Gareth Bale is unbelievable, a super talent. We have seen him at another level this season,” Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas said.
“He makes the difference in every single game. Players like this assume responsibility at key moments. When you see him joyful on the pitch, he gives you rewards,” he said.
“The gap to second place is not big and we have a chance to put Arsenal away on Sunday,” Villas-Boas said.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team and we played really well,” Bale said.
“We obviously wanted to get the three points to keep our Champions League hopes alive,” he said.
Bale underlined his claims as the best player in the Premier League with yet another moment of magic to put Spurs ahead in the 13th minute.
He was surrounded by West Ham defenders on the edge of the penalty area, but, drifting away from James Collins, he cleverly worked space for a shot and as West Ham’s back-four hesitated, the Welsh winger drove a low strike past Jussi Jaaskelainen.
That was Bale’s 22nd goal for club and country this season, as well as his eighth in his past seven games.
However, West Ham responded well to the setback and grabbed an equalizer in the 25th minute.
Kevin Nolan laid the ball off to Carroll in a dangerous position in the penalty area and former West Ham midfielder Scott Parker, lunging in to block, made clear contact on Carroll, forcing referee Howard Webb to give the spot-kick.
England forward Carroll, on loan from Liverpool, stepped up to smash the penalty past Hugo Lloris for his third goal of the season.
Jan Vertonghen almost restored Tottenham’s lead in the opening moments of the second half, when his cross deflected off Guy Demel and forced Jaaskelainen into a scrambling save.
Jaaskelainen, called into action again from the resulting corner to push away Steven Caulker’s towering header, was keeping Spurs at bay almost single-handed.
He turned Sigurdsson’s long-range shot onto a post and when the rebound fell to Emmanuel Adebayor, the Hammers goalkeeper leapt to his feet to block the follow-up.
After those escapes, West Ham moved ahead in the 58th minute, when Cole collected Joey O’Brien’s lofted pass with a fine first touch and turned to bury his shot beyond Lloris.
Tottenham kept pressing and, after Matt Taylor missed a golden chance to extend West Ham’s lead, the visitors leveled when Sigurdsson prodded home at the far post from Bale’s free-kick.
That set the stage for a pulsating finish and after more heroics from Jaaskelainen, Bale took charge, producing a truly stunning strike to seal the points.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was