Bale batters Arsenal into submission

Gareth Bale ... enhanced his reputation even further with the first goal against Arsenal. Source: GLYN KIRK / AAP

Gareth Bale stole the spotlight again as the Tottenham Hotspur star inspired his side to a crucial 2-1 win over Arsenal to pile the misery on their north London rivals.

Bale has been in sublime form in recent times 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.

Per Mertesacker's goal early in the second half set the stage for a tense finish, but Andre Villas-Boas's team - unbeaten in their past 12 league games - held on to move above Chelsea into third place in the Barclays Premier League and within two points of Manchester City, who face Aston Villa on Tuesday morning (EDT).

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.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	28	23	2	3	37	71
2	Man City	27	16	8	3	26	56
3	Tottenham	28	16	6	6	16	54
4	Chelsea	28	15	7	6	26	52
5	Arsenal	28	13	8	7	21	47
6	Everton	28	11	12	5	9	45
7	Liverpool	28	11	9	8	19	42
8	Swansea	28	10	10	8	5	40
9	West Brom	28	12	4	12	1	40
10	Fulham	28	8	9	11	-5	33
11	Stoke	28	7	12	9	-7	33
12	West Ham	28	9	6	13	-9	33
13	Norwich	28	7	11	10	-18	32
14	Sunderland	28	7	9	12	-7	30
15	Newcastle	28	8	6	14	-11	30
16	Southampton	28	6	9	13	-12	27
17	Wigan	28	6	6	16	-22	24
18	Aston Villa	27	5	9	13	-26	24
19	Reading	28	5	8	15	-20	23
20	QPR	28	3	11	14	-23	20

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 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.

Bale had few chances to flourish while Spurs struggled to find their rhythm in the opening 30 minutes and his only contribution of note was to dodge a banana thrown from the section filled with Arsenal fans.

But Bale is far too dynamic a talent to be subdued for long and, in the 36th minute, he demonstrated his cool head and lethal finishing.

Timing his run perfectly to meet Gylfi Sigurdsson's astute pass, Bale burst into the penalty area before flicking a fine finish past Wojciech Szczesny for his 24th goal of the season for club and country and his 10th in eight games.

In an instant, Bale had transformed the tone of the match and Spurs took full advantage to double their lead two minutes later.

Scott Parker who delivered the crucial contribution, running unchecked from inside his own half before sliding a perfectly-weighted pass to Lennon, who beat Arsenal's woeful offside wrap before rounding Szczesny and slotting into the empty net.

Villas-Boas hailed an important win but insisted his players would not be taking anything for granted in the race for the Champions League.

"It was very, very important for what it means, but obviously nothing is finished yet," he said.

"We have to believe that we still have to fight hard. We have to play Liverpool (next weekend) and we have to try to profit from another important fixture and keep doing our job.

"It is important we gather as many points as we can to finish where we want to be."

Arsenal finished strongly last season to pip Tottenham to third, with Chelsea's Champions League triumph ensuring Spurs missed out on this season's competition.

"Last year, by this time, Arsenal made the difference of seven points to Tottenham and we know how it finished," said Villas-Boas.

"Motivations are now different. We are extremely confident. They are on a low at the moment.

"We have to continue to do our job."

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