When Gareth Bale came off the bench in the 72nd minute to begin his second chapter at Tottenham Hotspur the hosts were 3-0 ahead and cruising against London rivals West Ham United, reports Reuters.
Little more than 20 minutes later Bale and his team mates trudged off crestfallen after Manuel Lanzini’s stoppage-time screamer earned West Ham an unlikely 3-3 draw. Of all the scenarios around Bale’s homecoming, few would have chosen this one.
Much more likely that the 31-year-old Welsh winger would mark his return on loan to the club he left seven years ago to join Real Madrid with a goal. Bale, who left in 2013 for a then world-record 100 million euros ($117 million), was given the chance to do something special when his first touch was to take a free kick from a dangerous area. But his tame shot went straight at Lukasz Fabianski.
“Don’t think so, honestly don’t think so. The decision not to start him was I think a good decision. A decision to show that he doesn’t have a beautiful chair waiting for him in the team and he sits there the first time he can,” Mourinho said. “It’s a pity that he couldn’t score that fourth goal which was a beauty and would have killed the game. That’s football.”
