Tottenham - Burnley: Gareth Bale had two goals and an assist as Tottenham Hotspur sent Burnley futher into the relegation scrap with a 4-0 blowout in North London on Sunday.
Harry Kane and Lucas Moura scored Spurs’ other goals as Tottenham won for just the second time in seven Premier League matches, pulling back ahead of Arsenal. Spurs’ 39 points place them eighth, six points off the top four.
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Bale scored his first league brace since Sept. 1, 2019 when he was with Real Madrid at Villarreal; It’s also his first Premier League brace since Feb. 25, 2013 for Spurs at West Ham.
Burnley’s 28 points are now just five clear of the bottom three with a dozen matches remaining on the schedule.
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Three things we learned from Tottenham - Burnley
1. Bale burns bright: This is how Jose Mourinho, Daniel Levy, and Gareth Bale all thought it would look when the Welsh star and Spurs agreed to the loan move that brought him back to North London from Real Madrid; Heung-min Son, Harry Kane, and Bale came out of the gates with fire and class, leaving Burnley in the dust before the game was 20 minutes old (Yes, even with Tottenham’s struggling corps of center backs). He now has four goals and three assists in his last four appearances. If Bale’s season was judged on a scale of Matthew McConaughey movies, he’s gone from Bale-ure to Launch to Bale-las Buyers’ Club in terms of critical acclaim.
2. Burnley levels have dropped at a bad time: Facing Brighton, Palace, Fulham, and West Brom over a two-week span, the Clarets didn’t lose but only won once. Now they’ve been dismantled by Spurs and look ahead to Leicester City, Arsenal, and Everton while sitting just five points ahead of the bototm three. The Clarets still get Newcastle, Southampton, Fulham, Leeds, and Sheffield United, but the bad news for Burnley is those teams also get the Clarets. Nick Pope can’t save the day every game.
3. Where can Spurs land? What if it’s without Hojbjerg? Jose Mourinho has talked up the final table as a true tale of Tottenham’s season, and there are three-straight London derbies ahead with Fulham away, Palace at home, and an away North London derby at Arsenal on March 14. Six points back of West Ham with a match-in-hand, the top four is there for them if they find good form more often than not. That will be very difficult if Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s late non-contact injury is serious on any level. Nervy days and weeks for Spurs.
Man of the Match: Gareth Bale
Tottenham - Burnley recap
Bale turned a very nice Heung-min Son cross past Nick Pope in the second minute, then sent a whale of a pass over the top of the Clarets to find Kane on the left.
The English striker didn’t need an invitation to beat Pope, though a tricky turn off a Claret certainly hurt the keeper’s chances of another amazing save.
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Lucas Moura had it 3-0 after a half-hour, Bale also playing a role in the build-up.
Bale’s second goal was a stunner, driving down the right and curling inside the far post from just inside the 18.