Mon 24 May 2021, 15:46
Tottenham HotspurGareth Bale was unaware of the bigger picture as he stepped in front of the post-match TV cameras pitchside at the KP Stadium after our 4-2 win at Leicester City on Sunday.
The Welsh star’s late double not only secured that 4-2 win but lifted us back over Arsenal into seventh in the Premier League, maintaining a run that will now stretch into a 12th consecutive season in European competition. With three minutes remaining, and the score locked at 2-2, we were eighth and out of Europe.
“That’s the most important thing, I guess,” said Gareth, smiling ear-to-ear, on hearing the news that we’d finished above Arsenal and qualified for Europe.
“It’s massive. We wanted to give ourselves the best chance possible, and it’s important we finished the season strong and gave the fans something to cheer about. We’ve been in Europe for a long time now and that’s something we didn’t want to give up. We fought until the end. No-one can fault us for effort.”
Gareth scored on 87 and 96 minutes to secure victory. Earlier, Harry Kane’s Golden Boot winning 23rd goal of the Premier League season came between Jamie Vardy’s two penalties, before Kasper Schmeichel punched Heung-Min Son’s corner into his own net for 2-2 on 76 minutes.
Meanwhile, Gareth finished the 20/21 campaign with 16 goals in all competitions, 11 in the Premier League.
He added: “It’s been a little bit of a disappointing season, but we always try to work hard for the fans, to give them something to cheer about and getting into Europe I guess is an added bonus at the end.
“I think everyone needs to understand that not every season can be perfect. In football, anything is possible, as everyone knows, it doesn’t always go the way you want, but the most important thing is that we fought for the fans and the Club and as players, that’s all we can do.”
