Dele, Bale get rare starts as Tottenham thump Sheffield

Tottenham trying to avoid a second-half slump

After being completely dominated in the first half, Sheffield United made a couple of changes to the players and adjusted the formation to make a go of it.  Given the points dropped in the second half by Tottenham Hotspur from winning positions, pushing Spurs in the second half is a smart approach.

Sheffield looked up for the battle as John Fleck stepped on Lo Celso’s face early in the second half demonstrating Sheffield’s intent. As the Pirates looked to fight for possession, Tottenham looked for the counter-attacks.

A beautiful long-ball from Toby Alderweireld to Heung-Min Son was called back for offside but the move was just a harbinger of things to come for Sheffield.

Gareth Bale takes the game ball

As Sheffield was pushing earning their first corner of the match the kind of counterattack we had been expecting all season showed up for Spurs. The ball was cleared up near midfield to Heung-Min Son who played it forward to the flashing Gareth Bale.

Ahead of everyone with nothing but green between himself and Ramsdale in the goal, Bale cruised in and blasted past Ramsdale for the 2-0 lead. Bale had enough time to think about it but showed tremendous composure for the goal just past the hour mark.

Less than 10 minutes later Tottenham was attacking with the ball. Serge Aurier was dribbling in from the right and as Harry Kane flashed across a hole opened at the top of the box. Aurier rolled the ball across the top of the 18 as Bale came running on to score his third. It was Bale’s first Premier League hat-trick in more than eight years and put the game to bed.

Son still got his goal

Despite having his earlier effort called out for a marginal VAR offside, Heung-Min Son made sure he was going to get his. With the ball near the top of the box, Son blasted in off the post past a helpless Ramsdale.

As Tottenham brought in substitutes, bringing both Bale and Dele off – who both did their part, Sheffield pushed to try and find some solace from a goal. In the end, it seemed Harry Kane and Tottenham were the more likely of the two teams to score a fifth goal. However, neither team could find the target as the match ended at 4-0.

It was a big win for Tottenham temporarily putting the Spurs in 5th place, ahead of both West Ham and Liverpool, who both still have to play. Tottenham travels to Elland Road to take on Leeds United on Saturday as Spurs continue to try and close with a bang.