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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Spurs' Bale completes rare treble

Welsh wonder ... Gareth Bale adds to his impressive individual honours. Source: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AFP

Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale completed a notable treble on Thursday when voted the 2013 Footballer of the Year by England's Football Writers' Association.

The 23-year-old Wales international topped the journalists' poll by a narrow margin with Manchester United's Robin van Persie, last season's winner when at Arsenal, the runner-up.

Last week Bale was named as both Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year by England's Professional Footballers' Association.

His 24 goals in all competitions so far this season helped take north London club Spurs into the quarter-finals of the Europa League and have kept them on course for a return to the Champions League via a top-four finish in the Barclays Premier League.

Bale will receive the FWA accolade, which has been running since 1948, at a gala dinner at the Lancaster London Hotel on May 9.

The first Tottenham player to receive the FWA award since David Ginola in 1999 and the first Wales international so honoured since Neville Southall in 1985, Bale said: "It means a lot to win this award when you consider the number of players that have been outstanding for their clubs in the Barclays Premier League this season.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	35	27	4	4	43	85
2	Man City	34	21	8	5	30	71
3	Chelsea	34	19	8	7	33	65
4	Arsenal	35	18	10	7	30	64
5	Tottenham	34	18	8	8	17	62
6	Everton	35	15	14	6	14	59
7	Liverpool	35	14	12	9	25	54
8	West Brom	34	14	6	14	2	48
9	Swansea	34	10	12	12	-1	42
10	West Ham	35	11	9	15	-8	42
11	Fulham	35	10	10	15	-9	40
12	Stoke	35	9	13	13	-10	40
13	Southampton	35	9	12	14	-10	39
14	Norwich	35	8	14	13	-21	38
15	Sunderland	35	9	10	16	-12	37
16	Aston Villa	35	9	10	16	-22	37
17	Newcastle	35	10	7	18	-23	37
18	Wigan	34	8	8	18	-23	32
19	QPR	35	4	13	18	-27	25
20	Reading	35	5	10	20	-28	25

"I have been very fortunate to be playing in such a fantastic team and I owe a lot to my team-mates and, obviously, the manager who has shown such faith in me."

Bale's latest award also completed a memorable couple of days for Cardiff's Whitchurch High School.

On Tuesday, Bale's old school-mate Sam Warburton was named captain of the British and Irish Lions rugby union team for their coming tour of Hong Kong and Australia.

Being a Tottenham fan, Cardiff Blues flanker Warburton was especially delighted by Bale's latest award. "It's great for Whitchurch. It is great to see Gareth doing so well," he said.

Whitchurch physical education teacher Gwyn Thomas said: "It's not often that you have a former pupil who wins not one but two PFA awards, and the British Lions captain within the space of a 48 hour phase. We had to pinch ourselves this morning."

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Spurs strike late to deny Everton

Late intervention ... Gylfi Sigurdsson celebrates his equaliser. Source: Stephen Pond / AAP

Gylfi Sigurdsson snatched a late equaliser as Tottenham Hotspur denied Champions League qualification rivals Everton victory in a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane.

Spurs took the lead after just 34 seconds through Emmanuel Adebayor, however first Phil Jagielka and then Kevin Mirallas scored to put the visitors in front.

David Moyes's side were within sight of a fourth-straight league win, only for Sigurdsson to tap home an equaliser in the 87th minute after Adebayor's shot came back off the post.

Tottenham finish the weekend in the fourth and final Champions League qualifying place, but although they are two points above Arsenal and six points clear of Everton, both their pursuers have games in hand.

"It looks like it will go down to the wire at the end of the season for these Champions League spots,'' said Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas.

"It's part of the game - everything shifts very, very quickly in the Premier League, but we have been in this position before and you have to deal with the pressure.''

Moyes insisted that Everton would carry on fighting for a top-four finish.

"I don't know if a point does a great deal for us. If we'd won we'd have been right in it," he said.

"I don't think we're too far away but I just hope the games don't run out. Tottenham are one of the top teams who have been fighting for fourth all season and we have taken four points off them this season so it is not a bad return."

Moyes was happy with the way his team responded after going behind so early, saying: "When you concede after 20 or 30 seconds it's all credit to the players for coming back.

"Tottenham had their tails up but thankfully we kept going and kept at it and played our way out of trouble and got ourselves a few chances.

"Tottenham had a lot of possession and we had to try and work to try and stop that. We didn't do it as well as we'd have liked but I always thought we looked a threat and we could score and we did a couple of times."

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X-RATED AND SHARED:Facebook Child Porn Video Spurs Alert for 'John Doe 8'

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  Law enforcement officials are seeking information which will lead to the identification of this unknown suspect. Images of this person abusing a young girl were found in a video on the Internet in May of 2005 -- a video that is once again circulation thanks to social media. His current whereabouts are unknown.FBI

Police and FBI agents across the country are receiving reports of a disturbing video depicting child pornography on Facebook that has spread on the social network like a poisonous weed.

Reports began last week of a video showing a white male with brown hair and a dark circular mark on his right forearm sexually abusing a young girl -- a video that was reportedly shared tens of thousands of times and received 4,000 “likes” on Facebook. 

The pornographic video itself is old and was first spotted online in May 2005, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed to FoxNews.com. Authorities are still searching for the perpetrator, known only as “John Doe 8.”

'Don’t comment on it. That’s like adding gasoline to the fire.'

- Sgt. Byron Fassett of the Dallas police child exploitation unit

Fred Wolens, a Facebook spokesman, told FoxNews.com the company has removed all known instances of the video from the site. Yet disgust and outrage have spread from Las Vegas to Dallas to Connecticut as users post notes to each other’s walls, comments expressing revulsion and outright anger.

That visceral need to respond is unfortunately part of the problem, helping to spread the video, said Sgt. Byron Fassett of the Dallas police child exploitation unit.

“Don’t comment on it,” Fassett told the Dallas Morning News. “That’s like adding gasoline to the fire.”

With the viral power of Facebook and social media, the video made its way across walls and the Internet like a creeping weed, often shared unwittingly by users. Gary Mala, superintendent of schools in Avon, Conn., sent a letter on Monday to parents and staff warning about the video. He called it a “virus.”

“The video is quite graphic and it will be very disturbing. If your child has a Facebook account, please tell your son or daughter to refrain from clicking and opening any shared videos. Students should delete any shared videos upon their receipt to avoid viewing the disturbing images and downloading the virus,” he wrote in a letter dated March 25.

Mala was not immediately available to comment.

The latest reports of the nearly 8-year-old video began in Las Vegas before spreading to Dallas, the paper reported. Police in Naugatuck, Conn., are also warning about the video, according to local reports, and a number of other police departments in Connecticut have reported receiving similar complaints.

Facebook’s Wolens stressed the company’s no-tolerance approach to such material.

“This material has absolutely no place on Facebook. We have zero tolerance for child pornography being uploaded onto Facebook and we are extremely aggressive in preventing and removing child exploitive content,” he told FoxNews.com.

Outrage about the disturbing video has crossed country boundaries as well, said Michelle Collins with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“This is a global issue,” Collins said on Friday. “We’re getting inquiries from this all over the world.” The volume of reports had slowed down by Tuesday, she told FoxNews.com, but continued to come in -- too often fueled by social media. 

“A lot of people were sharing the file under the misguided hope of trying to identify the child or offender. And unfortunately, that’s not the best way to go about it," she said. A better approach is to contact the site hosting the file, or visit the FBI's Endangered Child Alert Program (ECAP), which shows pictures of  unknown perpetrators from videos.

Anyone with information about the video can definitely help, said Katherine Chaumont with the FBI's Dallas Field Office. 

“The FBI is requesting that in this matter (like the other John Does on the ECAP portion of the FBI Web site) that if the public has any information regarding the identity of the toddler girl depicted in the video, the identity of the individual known as John Doe 8, or the location/jurisdiction of where the two might be located to contact their local FBI office,” she told FoxNews.com.

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Gerrard makes Spurs pay penalty

Celebration time ... Steven Gerrard makes the difference for Liverpool. Source: Clint Hughes / AAP

Steven Gerrard put a dent in Tottenham Hotspur's bid to qualify for the UEFA Champions League as the Liverpool captain's late penalty clinched a 3-2 win at Anfield.

Andre Villas-Boas's team were on course for a valuable three points when Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen struck twice for the visitors either side of half-time after Luis Suarez gave the Reds a 21st minute lead.

But Stewart Downing capitalised on woeful defending from Spurs right-back Kyle Walker to equalise in the 66th minute.

And England star Gerrard netted the winner from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute after Benoit Assou-Ekotto fouled Suarez.

Tottenham remain third, but fourth-placed Chelsea, two points behind, and fifth-placed Arsenal both now have a game in hand in the race to finish in the top four.

"It was a pity for us because we had some good moments. The key moment of the game was when we could have gone 3-1 up through Gylfi Sigurdsson,'' Villas-Boas said.

"It's football and we have to hopefully get ourselves back together and go on another good run.''

Brendan Rodgers's Liverpool climb to sixth place, closing the gap on Chelsea to seven points, and retain an outside chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

The manager hailed the turnaround as a "great victory" for his team.

"I think our character in the game was outstanding," said Rodgers.

"Earlier on in the season that game might have tipped against us but the longer we've worked together now the more cohesion we've shown to keep going.

"I think at this point of the season you want to be winning games. We've shown great character and mentality and against an outstanding Tottenham side it was a great victory for us."

Meanwhile at St James' Park, Senegal striker Papiss Demba Cisse bagged a stoppage-time winner as Newcastle United boosted their survival bid with a 2-1 victory over Stoke City at St James' Park.

Alan Pardew's team moved nine points clear of the Premier League relegation zone thanks to Cisse, who struck two minutes into additional time to complete a fine fightback from the Magpies.

Jonathan Walters put Stoke ahead from the penalty spot with 67 minutes gone, but Yohan Cabaye's superb free-kick soon after gave Newcastle renewed hope.

"It's a massive win,'' Pardew said.

"Papiss Cisse is a natural goalscorer. It popped up and a lot strikers would have snatched at that, but he has the confidence to let it come all the way down and smash it home.

"We go home in a much different situation than we would have been if it hadn't gone in. This goal will do him the world of good. We've improved dramatically and needed to.''

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Freakish Bale double rescues Spurs

Outrageous ... Gareth Bale's form is jaw-dropping. Source: Glyn Kirk / AFP

Another virtuoso performance from Gareth Bale sees Tottenham escape from Upton Park with a 3-2 win after an engrossing London derby against West Ham United.

Bale continued his red-hot form with a sensational double, after opening the scoring on 13 minutes, which helps Tottenham leapfrog Chelsea into third place.

However, Andy Carroll levelled from the spot before Joe Cole put the Hammers ahead on the night the club commemorated the 20th anniversary of Bobby Moore's death.

But the visitors were not to be denied victory as Gylfi Sigurdsson restored parity before Bale's sensatioanl winner in stoppage time.

West Ham were on top for the first 10 minutes, with Mohamed Diame and Matt Jarvis both drawing saves from Hugo Lloris. Bale shot wide early on and teed up Aaron Lennon, whose shot took a deflection which Spurs thought struck a West Ham hand in the box.

Bale, like Parker, was subjected to jeers from the home fans, but he had stunned the West Ham faithful with the opener after 12 minutes. The Welshman, operating up front alongside Emmanuel Adebayor, gained a yard on James Collins and another two Hammers defenders before firing across Jaaskelainen into the back of the net.

Bale led a rampaging Spurs break soon after but he shot tamely, much to the frustration of the unmarked Jan Vertonghen, who was screaming for the ball at the far post. Soon after Spurs were made to pay thanks to Carroll's second goal of 2013. Parker put in an ill-advised two-footed challenge on Carroll in the box and Howard Webb pointed to the spot. The former Newcastle striker picked himself up, smashed the ball past Lloris.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	27	22	2	3	33	68
2	Man City	27	16	8	3	26	56
3	Tottenham	27	15	6	6	15	51
4	Chelsea	27	14	7	6	25	49
5	Arsenal	27	13	8	6	22	47
6	Everton	27	10	12	5	7	42
7	West Brom	27	12	4	11	2	40
8	Liverpool	27	10	9	8	15	39
9	Swansea	27	9	10	8	4	37
10	Stoke	27	7	12	8	-6	33
11	Fulham	27	8	8	11	-5	32
12	Norwich	27	7	11	9	-14	32
13	Newcastle	27	8	6	13	-10	30
14	West Ham	27	8	6	13	-10	30
15	Sunderland	27	7	8	12	-7	29
16	Southampton	27	6	9	12	-11	27
17	Wigan	27	6	6	15	-18	24
18	Aston Villa	27	5	9	13	-26	24
19	Reading	27	5	8	14	-18	23
20	QPR	27	2	11	14	-24	17

Spurs almost took the lead again just after the break when Vertonghen's shot flew off Guy Demel's leg, but Jaaskelainen scrambled across his line and tipped wide. The big Finn then saved brilliantly to tip Sigurdsson's shot on to a post and he quickly regained his ground to save Adebayor's follow-up.

West Ham still had the majority of possession and they made it count with their second just before the hour. Cole timed his run to perfection, gaining two yards on Steven Caulker before slotting past Lloris and removing his shirt in a wild celebration. Sam Allardyce almost spilled his cup of tea in another raucous celebration on the Hammers bench.

Spurs threw everything at the hosts and had it not been for another two outstanding saves by Jaaskelainen from Bale and Caulker, they would have retaken the lead. Lloris pulled off a top-drawer save of his own when Matt Taylor beat the offside trap and fired on goal. The save proved crucial as Tottenham went up the other end and equalised.

The Hammers failed to deal with Bale's free-kick, a melee ensued in the box, but Sigurdsson held his nerve to poke past Jaaskelainen from close range.

Jaaskelainen pulled off another two top-class saves to deny Adebayor and Sigurdsson as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes.

Then with 10 seconds left the man of the moment picked himself up after being flattened by a tackle, collected the ball off Tom Carroll and let fly with an audacious 25-yard bullet that beat Jaaskelainen for his sixth goal in his last four Premier League matches, taking his overall tally for the season to an impressive 19.

Andre Villas-Boas' side now have all the momentum heading into Sunday's north London derby at home to Arsenal.

Read more: http://www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/280461/report

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Masked thugs attack Spurs fans

Violent attack ... Spurs fans were set upon at a bar in the French city of Lyon. Source: Paul Hirst / AP

Lyon have apologised to Tottenham following a violent attack on a number of their fans that left three Spurs supporters in a local hospital.

Around 50 masked thugs, some of whom were reportedly making fascist salutes, attacked a group of 150 Spurs fans who had gathered in the Smoking Dog pub in Lyon before their Europa League second leg tie.

Tottenham scored a late equaliser to secure progression against the French side in that match.

Eyewitnesses say the group of attackers smashed doors and threw cast-iron chairs, wooden objects, and a lit flare into the pub, which is popular among ex-pats in the French city.

The French club have responded with a statement, saying: "Olympique Lyonnais deplore the incidents overnight in the Saint-Jean district between the supporters of Tottenham and the 'pseudo' supporters of Lyon who absolutely do not represent the club.

"Olympique Lyonnais apologises to Tottenham and its supporters, for the inadmissible acts which degrade the image of the town of Lyon.

"Olympique Lyonnais call on the French justice system to impose severe sanctions for these reprehensible acts."

Tottenham confirmed that three of their fans sustained 'minor injuries' in the attack, and that a number of arrests had been made.
It is the second time that Tottenham fans have been targeted in the last three months after they were ambushed inside a pub in Rome on the eve of their game against Lazio.

A Tottenham spokesman said earlier: "Club officials attended an incident last night in Lyon. A group of around 50 people confronted fans.

"Spurs officials and stewards will be in the city throughout the day, along with matchday French police ahead of kick-off."

Dave Eales, landlord of the pub, said: "At 10.18 the pub was rammed with Tottenham fans watching the Champions League on the television. The front of the pub, which is made up of reinforced glass, was attacked by 20-25 people.

"They threw projectiles through the windows. There was a stand-off. They didn't get in to the bar. Then it calmed down. Then they came back a second time and it all started again.

"There were three injured Tottenham fans taken away by ambulance. One of them had a head injury. I'm not sure how bad it was."

Spurs fan and journalist Aidan Radnege, who was in the bar at the time of the attack, said: "They came in making Nazi salutes. It was frightening. Rome was fresh in everyone's minds. Everyone realised this was serious."

Read more: www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/8513790/Lyon-deplore-Wednesday-s-violent-attack-on-Tottenham-supporters

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