Tottenham capitalised on their man advantage to edge West Brom 1-0 at the Hawthorns in their Premier League encounter on Sunday.
The main talking point of the match was the dismissal of West Brom’s Goran Popov who was shown red for spitting at Kyle Walker.
Ten-man Baggies failed to hold their visitors after the sending off and Gareth Bale profited from the little bit of extra space to smash home the winner.
The game started in relatively lively fashion as Romelu Lukaku tested Hugo Lloris and Clint Dempsey failed to get any real purchase on his header at the other end.
The pace of the game petered out somewhat as time wore on but West Brom were offering slightly more up front.
The home side had a good chance midway through the first half but Shane Long shot straight at the keeper.
Having yet to have forced any real saves out of Ben Foster, Bale lined up a free-kick but managed only to embarrass himself with a horribly wild shot.
Spurs were then dealt a massive blow as Jermain Defoe was forced off the field through injury leaving them with no recognised striking options.
Lewis Holtby was brought on after an impressive debut midweek and Dempsey moved further up the field.
On the stroke of half time Bale forced Foster into a smart save as he lashed a shot in from the edge of the box before the sides trooped down the tunnel.
The Baggies were plunged into the mire by the stupidity of Popov after half time as the Macedonian spat in the direction of Kyle Walker following an angry exchange.
The Hawthorns faithful responded with disgust to the decision but Mark Clattenburg was sure of his ruling.
Spurs grew in confidence as they finally began to believe they could break down the home side’s defence.
Holtby tried his luck with a stinging shot before the goal eventually came courtesy of the London-side’s most likely source.
Welshman Bale has been in fine form recently and his hot streak continued as he netted in the 67th minute with a ferocious effort that left the keeper no chance.
Spurs then saw out the rest of the game with relative ease as Brom manager Steve Clarke was left to rue Popov’s earlier indiscretion.
