Brilliant Bale shoots Spurs up to third

By Mark Langdon 11:04PM 25 FEB 2013

TOTTENHAM moved up to third in the Premier League after a dramatic 3-2 success at London rivals West Ham on Monday.

Spurs were indebted to a wonderful performance from Gareth Bale, who broke the deadlock at Upton Park and then won the match at the death with a special long-range effort which saw Andre Villas-Boas’s outfit cut to 4-7 with Hills and Coral to finish in the top four.

A topsy-turvy encounter had looked destined to finish in a draw with Andy Carroll’s penalty cancelling out Bale’s opener before Joe Cole put the Hammers in front.

Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled for Tottenham and Bale struck with his 15th league goal of the campaign to move within four of leading top-flight marksman Robin van Persie.

Bale is 16-1 (Coral and Ladbrokes) to claim the Golden Boot and 13-8 with Paddy Power to win the PFA Player of the Year, while West Ham are in 14th and can be backed at 10-1 with Blue Square Bet to be relegated.