Published: 25 August, 2013
by PAUL COWLING at WHITE HART LANE

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Swansea City 0

JUST as last week at the Palace, Spurs won 1-0 at the Lane with a cooly taken penalty by new signing Roberto Soldado.

Tottenham fans have an instant hero to replace Gareth Bale – should the Welshman finally leave for Real Madrid.

'He comes from Sunny Spain to play at White Hart Lane,' sang the fans of the former Valencia forward. Meanwhile Bale is in sunny 'Marbs' getting a little extra gravy browning on his legs ahead of the proposed circus/media presentation on Tuesday in the Spanish capital.

Speaking after the match, André Villas-Boas said: 'There is interest from Real Madrid.

"Whether the transfer will happen or not, hopefully you will have more news in the next couple of days, but at the moment there is nothing I can tell you.'

The Spurs boss had agreed that Bale could have time-off, but he went on to say that: 'Tomorrow is a day off. Tuesday is training, so I expect him (Bale) to be here.'

'Where's your Bale gone?', sang the Swansea fans.

But, Spurs look like they may have already moved on. Their new signings look to have fitted seamlessly into the side. Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Etienne Capoue joined Soldado in making their home debuts.

Capoue in particular, shone. He looks an astute signing – composed, majestic and not afraid to shoot at goal from distance or go in with a crunching – but fair – tackle, as Jonathan de Guzman found out in the 15th minute.

'They are showing their technical quality in a short period of time' said Villas-Boas.

'We are looking sharper and look to take that mentality into the (next league) game against Arsenal.'

AVB  was particularly pleased with the showing of Andros Townsend, who started following his impressive showing in the Europa League match last Thursday.

'He surges into the penalty area, and his objective is to take on the man,' said Villas-Boas.

'He is really adding to our game.'

Villas-Boas stopped short of saying Townsend was a ready-made Bale replacement. Though in any case, Townsend needs intensive work on his free kicks… though any player would when compared to Bale.

But, It was Townsend who won the decisive (and disputed) penalty on 57 minutes.

Maybe Townsend's blistering pace forced the Spurs man to dive when under pressure from Swansea's Jonjo Shelvey. Replays clearly showed that Shelvey had backed off from the challenge.

Referee Neil Swarbrick pointed to the spot, and Soldado sent Michel Vorm the wrong way. 1-0 Spurs.

Swansea were furious, but Spurs will say that justice was done after being denied a penalty in the first half, when Shelvey did look as if he had clipped Townsend in the box, only for a free kick to be awarded just outside it.

The Welsh side responded well to going the goal down, and Hugo Lloris had to be alert to save brilliantly from a thumping volley from centre back Chico Flores on 71 minutes.

In the 79th minute, Jermain Defoe came on for Soldado, in the hope that the England striker's nippy pace would exploit the gaps left by the maurading Swans.

An injury time Spurs counter-attack saw Defoe collect the ball superbly, to set up Paulinho and seal the three points, but his fierce shot was – not for the first time – saved by Vorm. The rebound fell  to the Brazilian, but his skewed  shot went high into the Paxton.

After the match, AVB confirmed that another Brazilian (Willian) would not be joining the ranks at White Hart Lane.

'He had made a decision to join Chelsea. I am not surprised they have signed him. Good luck to him.' said the Spurs coach.

Willian may have got away, but could Tottenham's Welsh wing wizard and serial matchwinner be staying at the Lane, after all?

It seems unlikely that Gareth Bale won't sign for Real Madrid, as the stage has been set – literally – for his arrival in 'Sunny Spain'.

Whatever happens, Spurs have six points from the first two games.

AVB might have described those six points as 'Nothing'. But, it's already clear that Tottenham have made a good start to life without a certain player.

Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose; Paulinho, Capoue, Townsend, (Sandro 85)  Dembele (Sigurdsson, 63) ; Soldado Defoe 79, Chadli
Subs not used: Friedel, Kaboul, Naughton, Carroll
Att: 36,005