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Substituted at 3-0: Tottenham's summer signing Gareth Bale
Photo: NEIL HALL / AFP
Gareth Bale's comeback at his old and new club Tottenham Hotspur has been a complete failure.
Against West Ham United, the Welsh soccer star was substituted on 3-0 for Spurs, but coach José Mourinho's team then gambled away the victory they believed to be safe.
The Premier League derby between the two clubs from London ended 3: 3 (3: 0).
After early Spurs goals from Heung-Min Son (1st minute) and Harry Kane (8th / 16th), Bale was substituted on in the 72nd minute and shortly afterwards even had the chance to raise.
But after a somewhat surprising goal by Fabián Balbuena (82nd), the guests suddenly turned up.
After the connection goal for West Ham and an own goal by Davinson Sánchez (85th), Bale and Kane each narrowly missed the 4-2.
That took revenge: Manuel Lanzini (90 + 4) managed to equalize for the Hammers in stoppage time.
The 31-year-old moved to Spurs for a season on loan from Real Madrid in September, for which he had played from 2007 to 2013.
Due to an injury, he only came to his first appearance for Tottenham after his return.
Bale played his last competitive game for Real in June, after which he was not considered by coach Zinedine Zidane.
According to media reports, Real had tried to get rid of Bale also because of his high salary.
In 2013, Bale moved from Spurs to Madrid for the then record sum of around 100 million euros.
There Bale won the Champions League four times.
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ara / dpa