Tottenham 2 - 1 Liverpool: Bale makes hay as Liverpool run comes to an end

The Welshman scored what has to be one of the most unlucky own goals in Premier League history to tarnish his evening slightly, but Tottenham still managed to come away with their second successive win despite an edgy second half in north London.

Bale tore West Ham apart at White Hart Lane on Sunday and he began last night’s game in similarly devastating fashion, embarking on a 50-yard run before playing in Lennon for the opener after seven minutes.

The Welshman then smashed home a brilliant swirling free-kick to make it 2-0 after 16 minutes, the ball looping and dipping over the wall leaving Pepe Reina completely non-plussed.

The win, which moves Spurs above Arsenal and Everton into fifth, did not come easily but it did remind the club’s critics that in Bale they have a man capable of winning a match almost single-handedly. Reina got a taste of things to come when he saw a swirling Bale free-kick fly at him from 30 yards in the fourth minute, punching nervously away.

But Tottenham’s early pressure paid off as Spurs took the lead in style. Bale collected the ball on the half way line and breezed past four players before squaring to Lennon, who tapped home from close range.

A mix-up between Lloris and Kyle Walker then almost gifted the visitors an equaliser. The Frenchman rushed out of his goal to clear Luis Suarez’s through-ball but the defender took the ball away from his goalkeeper into the path of Jordan Henderson, who blazed wide of an open goal.

The Spurs fans mocked Henderson for his miss and the midfielder’s evening took another turn for the worse moments later when he was harshly adjudged to have fouled Dempsey 30 yards out. Bale took a five-yard run up and despatched a powerful drive which dipped and swerved over the wall, completely bamboozling Reina.

But, in the 72nd minute, the former Southampton man unwittingly put Liverpool back in the game. Lennon was well-placed on the line to clear Steven Gerrard’s header, but unfortunately for Spurs, the winger’s clearance cracked Bale square in the face and flew in to the home net. But the Londoners held on for the win.

Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Gallas, Dawson, Vertonghen, Lennon, Sandro, Dembele, Bale, Dempsey, Defoe. Subs: Friedel, Huddlestone, Naughton, Sigurdsson, Livermore, Townsend, Carroll.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Downing, Allen, Henderson, Gerrard, Jose Enrique, Sterling, Suarez. Subs: Jones, Sahin, Assaidi, Carragher, Fernandez Saez, Shelvey, Wisdom.