Villas-Boas praises Bale's solo strike against Norwich City

Posted Thursday, January 31, 2013 by Goal.com

The Wales international's spectacular individual effort earned a draw for Tottenham against Chris Hughton's side, who took the lead through Wes Hoolahan's first-half goal

Andre Villas-Boas praised Gareth Bale after his superb solo goal earned Tottenham a 1-1 draw against Norwich City but slammed an attempted tackle by Alexander Tettey on the winger.

The Portuguese claimed that Bale would have suffered a serious injury had Tettey made contact with a challenge in the immediate build-up to the Wales international's stunning equaliser.

Villas-Boas expressed his unhappiness with referee Neil Swarbrick and felt that the official should have taken action once play had stopped.

"It was a great goal," the Spurs coach told reporters. "He was extremely lucky to avoid Tettey's challenge, which could have broken his ankle. It's disappointing that the referee did not give a yellow or red card after the incident.

"If he had made contact with Gareth's ankle you have an injury that keeps him out for six months and you have a player who has to continue to receive insults about his reputation [for diving], which I think is extremely insulting."

Norwich dominated the first half at Carrow Road before Tottenham's second-half revival ensured they escaped with a point.

Wes Hoolahan opened the scoring for the Canaries but while Villas-Boas conceded that his team had been on the back foot, he was not impressed with the hosts' approach to the game.

"We couldn't really play our game in the first half, Norwich were difficult to handle," he reflected. "There were lots of long balls that were difficult to defend and they were on top of us.

"The second half was all ours. We played good football and the boys showed great commitment. At half-time they recognised they could change their performance. I think in the end a draw is a fair result.

"They don't try to play, really. They put the ball in your box and lots of clearances end up in your box. They fight for first and second balls and that's the nature of our game.

"It's not here, in the Premier League, to be beautiful. Sometimes it's difficult and dirty but we managed to handle it in the second half and get the ball on the ground."