LIFE AFTER MOURINHO
Restored Bale gets new boss off to a flier
RYAN MASON hailed “exceptional” Gareth Bale after the superstar came in from the cold to inspire Tottenham’s comeback win.
The Welsh superstar, who had played just 10 minutes of football since the international break under Jose Mourinho, was straight back in for Mason’s first game as interim manager.
He responded with a superb 60th-minute strike to cancel out Danny Ings’ first-half opener. Heung-Min Son grabbed a late penalty to clinch all three points.
Mason said: “Gareth is an exceptional player who has had an excellent career. When you don’t have Harry Kane in the team you need someone who can produce moments like that in the final third. The quality of the finish was outstanding.
“When you want to go into a big game like the weekend [Sunday’s Carabao Cup final] it is always ideal to go into it on the back of a win. The manner of this win said a lot about the group. I’m very proud of the effort and the commitment.”
If Spurs can retain the character they summoned here, they just might have a chance against Manchester City on Sunday. If Kane is somehow back from his ankle injury by then, all the better.
For Mason, this win must have been the stuff of fantasy. In charge of his boyhood club, the 29-year-old former midfielder led his team out as the youngest manager in Premier League history.
Three of his stars, Hugo Lloris, 34, Bale, 31, and Toby Alderweireld, 32, were older than him. All of them, however, were ready to rumble in the first game after Mourinho.
Bale was straight back into the side from the start – a statement in itself – and another exile, Harry Winks, made a secondhalf appearance.
You get the sense that whatever the fortunes of the club under Mason, every one of those Spurs stars who found their feet under Mauricio Pochettino will get their chance to perform under the interim boss.
Southampton counterpart Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “We try to keep the tempo high, we try to keep them away from our goal, but maybe we’re just tired. It was a combination of everything. It’s not easy to change things right now.”
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Lloris 7; Aurier 7, Alderweireld 7, Dier 6, Reguilon 7; Ndombele 7 (Winks 73), Hojberg 8; Bale 9 (Bergwijn 83), Lo Celso 7 (Lamela 79), Son 8; Moura 7. Goals: Bale 60, Son 90 pen.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-4-2): McCarthy 6; Walker-Peters 5, Bednarek 5, Vestergaard 5, Salisu 6; Walcott 6 (Djenepo 67, 6), Ward-Prowse 7, Armstrong 7, Tella 6 (Redmond 84); Adams 6, Ings 8 (Diallo 5, 6). Goal: Ings 30.