Heading home for Spurs - Gareth Bale

After seven years away, Gareth Bale reopened his Spurs goalscoring account on Sunday night in our 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion - that first goal back, though, came in a way that few would have predicted.

Throughout his first spell with us between 2007 and 2013, Gareth’s finishes felt almost trademark. Whether it be a lung-bursting run finished off with a sweet left-footed strike, a stunning long-ranger or even an inch-perfect free-kick, these are finishes that the Welshman could pull off time and time again.

Yet, when he found the net against Brighton on Sunday, our number nine produced a historically more uncharacteristic finish to announce his return to north London as he powered home a header from eight yards out. Crafted by his former Real Madrid and now Spurs team-mate Sergio Reguilon on the left, Gareth peeled off his man in the box and cleverly redirected Sergio’s teasing cross into the bottom corner of the Seagulls’ net for our winner.

It wasn't the first time he has scored a header in a Spurs shirt as six of his previous 56 goals for the Club have come via his head – all of which came in wins for us. So, following his return to our scoresheet, we take a look back at Gareth’s previous six headed Spurs goals – how many of them do you remember?

Stoke City 1-2 Spurs - August, 2010

It wasn’t until the Gareth’s third season with us that he scored his first headed goal, but it wasn’t a finish that will be vividly remembered for two reasons.

He opened the scoring at the Britannia Stadium with the header, but it wasn’t the  strike that the Welshman had initially intended. Aaron Lennon had lofted the ball to the far stick where Gareth was waiting to poke it towards goal, yet his effort was stopped by the alert Potters' goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen. Pinball in the box followed as the ball rebounded between attack and defence before Stoke's Ryan Shawcross was forced to clear off the line. The defender's clearance cannoned into the face of the oncoming Bale and bounced over the line for the forward's first ‘headed’ goal.

From slapstick to the sublime, after Ricardo Fuller’s equaliser, the Welshman then went to score his and our second with one of his most-iconic Spurs goals. Lennon was the creator as he floated the ball towards Gareth at the far post once more. The Welshman then paused to allow the ball to go across his body before he hooked it back around with his left foot and sent it arrowing into the top right-hand corner.

Spurs 4-2 Blackburn Rovers – November, 2010

Another headed goal and another brace for Gareth came as we romped home to victory against Blackburn Rovers at White Hart Lane in November, 2010.

Like against Stoke three months earlier, the forward headed in the game's opener. Coming from a corner on the right, Rafael van der Vaart fizzed in the set-play towards the near-post and it was met in devastating fashion by the Welshman, who had lost his man as he darted towards the cross before he flicked the ball with his head past former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

The forward then assisted Roman Pavlyuchenko to head in and double our lead, Peter Crouch added the third before Gareth was on target once more for our fourth – van der Vaart teeing him up once again. Blackburn scored twice in the last 10 minutes to halve the deficit.

Spurs 1-0 Fulham – January, 2011

Once again, the combination of a van der Vaart set play and the movement, as well as the all-important head of Gareth saw the Welshman get his third headed goal in a Spurs shirt.

In what was a well-contested clash at White Hart Lane, Gareth scored the only goal of the game three minutes before half-time. Winning a free-kick in a central area, just 30 yards from goal, a strike on target looked to be the sole thought in Van der Vaart’s mind. However, as the ball was struck, our Welsh forward cleverly moved into its flightpath before redirecting it with his head, leaving goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer wrong-footed as the ball sailed into the opposite corner of the net.

Wigan Athletic 1-2 Spurs – September, 2011

Doubling our lead away to Wigan Athletic in 2011, Gareth grabbed his fourth headed Spurs goal.

Van der Vaart had opened the scoring for us at the DW Stadium as the Dutchman made the most of a mistake at the back by the Latics to slot us in front on three minutes. Bale then made it 2-0 mid-way through the first half as he made a near-post run at a corner before glancing home Luka Modric’s delivery with aplomb. Our hosts pulled one back with 40 minutes still to play but we held on to take all three points in Greater Manchester.

Southampton 1-2 Spurs – October, 2012

We would have to wait another year until we saw Gareth nod the ball into the back of the net once more, as he next found the target with his head in October, 2012.

Opening the scoring away at his former club Southampton, the Welshman arrowed home a header from 11 yards out on 15 minutes, as his late run into the box was expertly picked out by a chipped cross from Tom Huddlestone. Clint Dempsey then doubled our lead six minutes before the break before the Saints pulled one back in the second period through Jay Rodriguez.

Spurs 3-0 Internazionale – March, 2013

Gareth Bale’s career exploits against Internazionale are well documented. Most notably, it was against the Italian giants in 2010 that the forward truly announced himself to world football as he fired home a hat-trick at the San Siro – a performance which set him on course for the glorious career in the game that he has had thus far. Three years after that momentous Champions League night in Milan, he was once again on target for us against the Nerazzurri with a powerful header, this time in the Europa League.

Coming inside the opening six minutes at the Lane, Gareth, who was operating with freedom in the number 10 role, drifted into the box as Gylfi Sigurdsson angled in a cross from the left. Timing his run to perfection, the forward then went unchallenged as he simply out-leaped the defence, which included then-titans of Serie A such as Javier Zanetti, Chivu and Esteban Cambiasso, to power the ball home with his head.

The win was then wrapped up with goals either side of the break from Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen.

And now to the present day...