Premier League review:Gareth Bale returned to haunt his former employers today as Tottenham held on to win at Southampton, while Papiss Cisse deflected home a fortunate injury-time winner for Newcastle against West Bromwich Albion.
Spurs had not even scored — never mind won — on their five previous trips to St Mary’s but dominated the first half on the south coast.
Bale gave the north Londoners the lead just 15 minutes into the match against the club with whom he began his career, heading home on his return to action following the birth of his first child.
Spurs deservedly doubled their advantage as half-time approached through Clint Dempsey, who directed home into an empty net after Jose Fonte’s clearance off the line fell straight into his path.
A vastly-improved Saints side re-emerged for the second period and they reduced the deficit in the 66th minute when Jay Rodriguez lashed home his first Premier League goal.
Southampton continued to press for a leveller as the clock wound down but could not find an elusive second goal, much to the frustration of under-pressure manager Nigel Adkins.
Cisse's forunate intervention saw Alan Pardew’s men recover from Romelu Lukaku’s equaliser for West Brom to grab all three points at St James’s Park.
Substitute Sammy Ameobi struck a left-foot shot from the edge of the box which took a heavy deflection off the back of Cisse and was cruelly diverted past Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster to seal the home side’s win.
Demba Ba had netted his seventh goal in nine starts to give the Magpies a 35th-minute lead, but the dangerous Lukaku looked to have snatched the visitors a point when he headed home a Zoltan Gera cross 10 minutes into the second half.
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