Gareth Bale scored again as Tottenham Hotspur demolished Inter 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League encounter at White Hart Lane on Thursday night.
The Welsh international opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Spurs never looked back en route to a memorable triumph over their Italian counterparts.
Bale beat Esteban Cambiasso to the ball and his glancing header found the bottom corner, leaving Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic rooted to the spot.
Tottenham kept pushing forward in waves and was rewarded for its attacking ambition when Gylfi Sigurdsson pounced on a juicy rebound from close range to double the home side’s advantage in the 17th minute.
Inter were on the ropes and their futile display brought back memories of their disappointing loss to Spurs in the Champions League back in 2010 when Bale was the star attraction on that evening.
Spurs then put one foot in the quarter-finals when Bale’s delivery was met by Jan Vertonghen, who nodded past Handanovic with the Inter defence nowhere to be found.
The result gives the Premier League club a commanding 3-0 advantage heading into the return fixture at San Siro next week. Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas was undoubtedly pleased with the result but warned his players that there is still work to be done in Italy .
Bale will miss the second leg after he picked up a yellow card for diving but Villas-Boas believes his side has enough depth to mask his absence.
Spurs beat Arsenal in the north London derby last weekend and are currently sitting pretty in third spot, seven points ahead of their bitter city rivals with 10 games remaining in what has been a very successful season.
Gareth Bale has now scored nine goals in his last 11 games and is playing his way into the discussion for the prestigious FIFA Ballon d’Or award.