Tottenham Hotspur coach Andre Villas-Boas said Gareth Bale's suspension-incurring booking in the 3-0 win over Inter Milan merely capped a perfect evening for the Premier League side.
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Bale headed Tottenham in front in the first leg of the Europa League last-16 tie at White Hart Lane on Thursday, before teeing up the third goal for Jan Vertonghen after Gylfi Sigurdsson had doubled the hosts' lead.
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Shortly after his sixth-minute opener, the Welshman received a caution for diving that rules him out of next week's return leg in Milan.
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However, with Bale having now wiped his disciplinary slate clean ahead of a potential quarterfinal, Villas- Boas said the booking had arrived at an opportune moment.
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"He'll be a great miss," said the Spurs manager.
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"To be fair, with this result, we would have asked him to get the yellow card (if he had not been booked) to be 'clean' for the last eight.
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"We're in a good position, but it's not finished. We'll miss Gareth because he's been influential in consecutive games, but hopefully we can make it through to the last eight without him."
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Bale's booking, after he went down under a challenge from Walter Gargano in the 15th minute, was the fourth time this season that he has been shown a yellow card for diving.
The ban shouldn't mean much to Tottenham. Tottenham is nt a one man team so it should continue its brillant form in the next game
Quote from: Shola Sholaz on Mar 09, 2013, 01:30 AM
The ban shouldn't mean much to Tottenham. Tottenham is nt a one man team so it should continue its brillant form in the next game
He has been their key man in their past games so there is no how his absence won't be felt. They will just have to manage