Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen believes that their win over Swansea proves that they can flourish and get results without winger Gareth Bale.
Fresh from a defeat, Tottenham had gone into the match knowing that a win would cement their spot back in the top 4. Swansea had also been fresh from a defeat against Norwich City, and both teams needed a win to bounce back and recover from their respective defeats.
The game started with Tottenham dominating proceedings, and Swansea pretty much playing catch up and being second best throughout the 90 minutes. However,Tottenham were unable to break the visitors down and had to work hard to find an opening. Swansea defended well and looked threatening on the counter attack.
But it was Tottenham who dominated possession and had more chances at goal. The dead-lock was broken in the 75th minute when summer signing and former Ajax man Jan Vertonghen fired home a goal from inside the box with his weaker right foot.
That was the only goal of the night, and the only thing separating both teams. Manager Andre Villas-Boas was delighted to see his team hold on to the narrow lead and win all 3 points.
Jan Vertonghen was also pleased with the result which lifted Tottenham back into 4th spot. Tottenham were without star player http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Bale-c14422 who had been ruled out for the game with a hamstring injury. Many times, Spurs have been criticized for lacking penetration without the Welshman, but Vertonghen believes Clint Dempsey has proven to be more than capable of filling in for Bale.
The player praised his teammate and said:
"Maybe we needed a little more width on the pitch but Clint has replaced Gareth very well, like he has done with all the strikers already. Gareth is a word class player, but we did well without him. We have a big squad but have had too many injuries. When everyone comes back we'll have a very strong team."
The Belgian believes that the win over Swansea puts them in driving gear and sets them up well for the weekend's game against Stoke City. Vertonghen added:
"We needed to win our two matches, this being the first one. It's important to enter Christmas with a good feeling. We did okay against Swansea. They're a good side but we put them under pressure and created a lot of chances."
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