Tottenham 2 Antwerp 0: Watch Gareth Bale’s stunning free-kick set up Vinicius’ opener as Spurs win Europa League group
GARETH BALE wound back the clock with a moment of magic to spark Tottengham to the win – in a display which suggests his best days are now a thing of the past.
The wide-man's dipping 30-yard free-kick could only be parried into the path of Vinicius to score and set the London club on the way to top spot in Group J.
But that flash of skill aside, the former Real Madrid man struggled to do anything to excite the fans on his first outing in front of them since his comeback at the start of the season.
When Spurs forked agreed to fork out £20million in loan fees and wages to bring the prodigal son back to North London they knew it would take a while for him to get up to speed.
It is now two months since he made his second debut, and there is little to suggest he is much sharper and more like his former self than on that day.
Whether it is a lack of trust in his own body to withstand the exertion, the Welshman still looks unable to turn on the burners in any way to scare opposition defences.
Bale has yet to complete a game he has started since re-joining, and maybe Jose Mourinho is wising up to the fact he may not have a 90-minute man available to him at all this season.
Sure enough here, only 58 minutes were on the clock before the 31-year-old was summoned back to the bench – his last kick being that terrific strike which led to the opening goal.
And maybe that might just be Bale’s lot going forward, a role a player who offers more in flashes than anyone who can be a lasting threat throughout a game.
There had actually been a glimpse of Bale in a threatening position to excite the fans when he stole in to glance a fifth minute header across the face of goal.
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But any thoughts that was only the start of a display aiming to put the visitors to the sword were sadly misguided as Tottenham stuttered along aimlessly.
The first team may be riding high at the top of the Premier League, but this second string was hardly doing much to stake claim for a chance.
Bale wasn’t the only one who looked a yard off the pace, for long periods in the opening half Giovani Lo Celso, Harry Winks and Lucas Moura all struggled to find any rhythm.
And had Cristian Benavente not dithered when he was played in behind a flat defence on 33 minutes, the Belgians could have punished them for their slack play.
Luckily Davinson Sanchez was able to regain his ground and get a foot to the shot to divert it into the side netting.
Spurs finally woke up in the last ten minutes before the break when Lo Celso tested Alireza Beiranvand with a strike from the edge of the box.
And the Antwerp keeper then copped a painful one between the legs plunging to deny Vinicius when the Brazilian was played through by compatriot Moura.
The second half drifted on much like the first, so Mourinho sent for the cavalry knowing the win was needed for top spot, ordering Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Tanguy Ndombele to strip off ready for action.
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Just as they were waiting for the break in play, Bale sent his long-range free-kick dipping towards the top corner, Beiranvand could only tip onto the bar and Vinicius turned home the loose ball.
It was the pair’s last kick as they were hauled off before play restarted and Kane soon made his mark, releasing Lo Celso into the area to fire low into the bottom corner for the vital second.