Bale the hero in Spurs late win

Who else ... Gareth Bale lands the winner against Southampton. Source: Ian Kington / AAP

Gareth Bale capped a memorable week by scoring the winner to keep Tottenham's Champions League hopes alive as they beat Southampton 1-0 at White Hart Lane in the Premier League.

All the talk before the game was about the Welshman, who on Thursday added the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year award to the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards he won last week.

But it was a first half to forget for Bale and Tottenham as they were outplayed for large periods by Southampton.

The excellent Nathaniel Clyne had the visitors' first chance when he found himself clean through on the right but appeared to drag his shot wide of Hugo Lloris's goal.

Spurs then lost influential midfielder Mousa Dembele on 35 minutes with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Lewis Holtby came on in place of the Belgian and could only watch as Rickie Lambert's free-kick was expertly tipped onto the post by Lloris. Steven Davis was quickest to react to the follow-up but his header was tame and straight at the French goalkeeper.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	36	27	4	5	42	85
2	Man City	35	21	9	5	30	72
3	Chelsea	35	20	8	7	34	68
4	Arsenal	36	19	10	7	31	67
5	Tottenham	35	19	8	8	18	65
6	Everton	36	15	15	6	14	60
7	Liverpool	36	14	13	9	25	55
8	West Brom	35	14	6	15	1	48
9	Swansea	35	10	13	12	-1	43
10	West Ham	36	11	10	15	-8	43
11	Stoke	35	9	13	13	-10	40
12	Fulham	36	10	10	16	-11	40
13	Aston Villa	36	10	10	16	-21	40
14	Southampton	36	9	12	15	-11	39
15	Norwich	36	8	14	14	-22	38
16	Newcastle	36	10	8	18	-23	38
17	Sunderland	35	9	10	16	-12	37
18	Wigan	35	9	8	18	-22	35
19	Reading	36	6	10	20	-26	28
20	QPR	36	4	13	19	-28	25

Tactically Mauricio Pochettino's side got it spot on during the first period and prevented Spurs from having any notable attempts at Artur Boruc's goal.

The second half started in pretty much the same fashion. Spurs struggled to get a grip on the game and Adam Lallana tricked Michael Dawson before firing at Lloris.

As the game reached the closing stages Emmanuel Adebayor was sent on in place of Clint Dempsey and, when the Togolese forward sent Bale free, it appeared the home side may claim their first penalty at home for two years but referee Mark Clattenburg waved away the Spurs players protests.

Then, on 86 minutes, Bale illuminated what was largely a forgettable game. Picking the ball up on the right wing from Kyle Walker he cut inside before unleashing a sensational shot past Boruc and into the bottom corner.

It wrapped up a remarkable week for Bale and kept alive his side's hopes of playing Champions League football next season.

Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas was again left to reflect on the influence of Bale, who had been well shackled by Southampton for most of the game.

"Again, it was decided by a great moment of individual brilliance," said Villas-Boas.

"We kept on pushing and Gareth played in three different positions today - as striker, then on the left and on the right to try and get the best out of him."

Pochettino felt Southampton did not deserve to lose and that his side were the better team for long periods.

"Yes, we played a very good game today and we deserved to leave this game with a result," said Pochettino.

"What's really important is that we competed and during long spells of the game we actually played better than Tottenham. But it's a shame not to get anything from out of this game."

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