Tottenham prodigy Bale has now scored 15 goals in all competitions this season. PHOTO: REUTERS
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.
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 equalise and Bale produced a long-range winner to move Tottenham, unbeaten in their last 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,” said Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas. “We have seen him at another level this season.
“He makes the difference in every game. Players like this assume responsibility at key moments. When you see him on the pitch he gives you rewards.
“The gap to second place is not big and we have a chance to put Arsenal away on Sunday.”
The left-footed winger was modest in his assessment of another victory as his team continue to push for honours.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team and we played really well,” said the Welshman. “We wanted to get the three points to keep our Champions League hopes alive.”
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, whose team played their part in an enthralling end-to-end encounter, said he had never seen anything like Bale’s streak of out-of-the-ordinary goals.
“We’ve one man to thank for the result and that’s Bale. He’s the difference and his wonder goals are continuing,” Allardyce told Sky Sports.
“We played fantastic but we’ve been beaten by Bale. As soon as he hit it I went ‘oh no’, I knew it was going in.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2013.
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