Gareth Bale stole the spotlight yet again as the Tottenham star inspired his side to a crucial 2-1 win over Arsenal that piled on the misery for their north London rivals yesterday
Bale has been in sublime form of late and the Wales winger produced a typically clinical finish to break the deadlock in the first half at White Hart Lane before Aaron Lennon doubled Tottenham’s lead just moments later.
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Tottenham’s Gareth Bale (in white) vies for the ball with Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen during their EPL match yesterday
Per Mertesacker’s goal early in the second half set the stage for a tense finish, but Andre Villas-Boas’ team, now unbeaten in their last 12 league games, held on to move above Chelsea into third place in the Premier League and within two points of second-placed Manchester City.
Spurs have had eight managers since they last finished above Arsenal in 1995, but Villas-Boas could be the one to end that barren stretch as his side sit seven points clear of fifth placed Arsenal, who face a major struggle just to qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal’s first defeat in six league games left them five points behind Chelsea in the race for a top-four finish and added to the sense of a club in crisis.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had awoken to reports that Arsenal could be the subject of a £1.5 billion (USD 2.25 billion) takeover bid from a Middle East
consortium which would place his future under scrutiny after eight years without a trophy and this was another dispiriting afternoon for the Frenchman.