Brilliant Bale keeps Spurs in hunt
Tottenham moved to within seven points of top spot last night as Gareth Bale tore Norwich apart with a brilliant brace and the north London outfit have a game in hand — against Everton on January 11 — on joint leaders Manchester City and Manchester United.
No side is playing better than Tottenham at present but Redknapp was playing down their title chances after last night’s comfortable victory.
“Man United and Man City look so strong, I wouldn’t like to pick a winner out of those two,’’ Redknapp said. “We’d like to get back in the Champions League and that won’t be easy.”
His counterpart last night, Norwich boss Paul Lambert, believes Spurs are credible contenders.
He said: “The bigger teams can really hurt you and Spurs are definitely up there vying for the championship.
“It’s disappointing [to lose] but we gave it everything we had. They’ve got quality all over the pitch.”
Redknapp may have been reluctant to talk up Spurs’ title hopes but he was pleased to see his side pick up another three points.
“It was a good result. When you are up there you cannot afford not to. You’ve got to keep picking up results,’’ he said.
Goal hero Bale believes the experience of playing in the Champions League has helped Spurs kick on in the Premier League this season.
Bale said: “We’ve learnt a lot from last year being in the Champions League.”
Bale claimed he did not lose faith Spurs would win the game after failing to take a number of chances in the first half.
He added: “As long as we are creating chances that’s the main thing.
“We were confident we would get one whoever it fell to and lucky enough it was me.”
After laying siege to the Norwich goal in the first half, Spurs finally found the opener 10 minutes after the break when Bale picked up Emmanuel Adebayor’s pass to drive under John Ruddy.
Bale then latched on to Luka Modric’s pass to sprint 45 yards before lifting the ball over the on-rushing Norwich goalkeeper with a sublime finish to kill off the match 12 minutes later.
The performance may have been slightly ropey in the first-half, but the devastating display from Bale highlights just why Tottenham are proving that they should be deemed credible title challengers.
The Londoners will head in to the new year as the capital’s top club, and with games against Swansea and West Brom coming up, few would back against Redknapp’s men putting more pressure on both Manchester teams over the next few days.
A speculative volley from Steve Morison gave Brad Friedel an early test, but Redknapp’s team soon started to dictate play.
Bale drew saves from Ruddy on two occasions after terrorising Ritchie de Laet with his searing pace.
Russell Martin put in a crucial header to deny Adebayor a great chance from six yards after a teasing cross from Kyle Walker.
Bale slammed a deflected shot just wide, but he was soon presented with another chance thanks to an error from Martin. The Welshman nicked the ball off the dallying defender and charged through at goal but he could only blast over.
A superb 50-yard ball from Rafael van der Vaart sent Adebayor free. The striker edged the ball past the on-rushing Ruddy, but he could not recover it to tap home and the ball went out of play.
Another Spurs attack came moments later when Bale get on the end of Modric’s through-ball but Ruddy pulled off a good save.
Martin put in a sliding tackle to deny Adebayor, who then blazed over in injury-time as Tottenham’s half ended in frustration.
William Gallas slipped on the edge of the box, bringing down Andrew Surman and earning himself a booking as Norwich began the second half with more confidence. Surman picked himself up and curled a low shot that drifted inches wide, with Friedel scrambling for his far post.
Spurs finally took the lead 10 minutes in to the second half. Van der Vaart picked out Adebayor in the box, he held the ball up and fended off three Norwich defenders before squaring to Bale, who got the ball out from under his feet to shoot under Ruddy after being left unmarked 12 yards out.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto found Walker unmarked at the back post after a clever one-two with Modric but the right-back cleared the bar by at least 10 yards with a poor shot.
Adebayor converted Assou-Ekotto’s cross soon after but the Togo striker was ruled out for offside.
Bale grabbed his second of the game to make it 2-0 in the 67th minute.
Scott Parker won the ball off Morison and laid the ball to Modric, who sent the Welshman galloping through on a 45-yard dash. Bale kept his composure after a heavy first touch before dispatching the coolest of chips over an on-rushing Ruddy, who dove at the winger’s feet in vain.
Adebayor then squared for Modric as Tottenham looked for a third that would kill off the game but the Croatian could only muster a weak shot that Ruddy gathered easily.
Martin headed wide in injury-time as Norwich looked for a consolation, but it never came and Spurs played the rest of the match out comfortably for a vital three points.
NORWICH: Ruddy, De Laet (Barnett 64), Martin, Whitbread, Drury (Bennett 75), Fox, Crofts (Pilkington 75), Surman, Hoolahan, Morison, Holt.
TOTTENHAM: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto (Rose 72), Modric, Sandro, Parker (Livermore 90), Bale, Van der Vaart (Kranjcar 85), Adebayor.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
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