Two goals from Gareth Bale gave Tottenham a 2-1 win over Newcastle

The Welsh wizard was a constant thorn in Newcastle's side and he opened the scoring with a brilliant free-kick after just five minutes.

Spurs were the better side in the opening exchanges, but the visitors looked dangerous on the counter and levelled with Yoan Gouffran's strike flying into the top corner off Michael Dawson's back just before the half-hour.

Both teams had their chances to win it in the second half, and it was Spurs who took the three points with just 12 minutes left as Bale broke into the box and fired under Tim Krul for his eighth goal in his last nine Tottenham appearances.

He did pass up a gilt-edged chance to take the match ball home but he fired over an open goal with his right foot from just five yards out - however, it mattered little as Spurs took the win and extended their unbeaten run to 10 games.

Bale was in in the mood from the start. Just 70 seconds had elapsed when he burst down the left after a clever one-two with Lewis Holtby, but Davide Santon cut the Welshman's cross out before Clint Dempsey could convert.

Three minutes later and Spurs had the lead. Fabricio Coloccini clattered into Dempsey 25 yards out and Bale stepped up to deliver a Ronaldo-esque free kick which dipped over the wall past a diving Krul.

Spurs dominated the rest of the opening quarter but Newcastle came back into it and levelled. Moussa Sissoko galloped down the right on a Newcastle counter and pulled the ball back to Gouffran who beat Hugo Lloris via a deflection from the diving Dawson.

Spurs had two penalty appeals turned down. The first - when Aaron Lennon's shot struck Santon's arm - looked credible, but the second - when Bale's volley brushed Mathieu Debuchy's shoulder - was not.

Just after the break and Newcastle were hit with a blow as goalscorer Gouffran was stretched off. Kyle Walker clipped the forward's right shin on the halfway line and he needed oxygen before being carried off on a stretcher. He was then taken to hospital for an X-ray.

Bale continued to look like Tottenham's best hope of finding a winner. The Welshman, who fired his country to victory over Austria in midweek, picked the ball off Lennon and fired a low cross into the box but it was cut out before Dempsey could score.

Bale came forward again, charging at the defence before firing a powerful shot which Taylor blocked bravely. But Taylor then went from hero to villain moments later, however, as his mix-up with Coloccini allowed Bale to race through the Toon defence and fire between the legs of Krul to make it 2-1.

Caulker could have added a third moments later with a free header when Krul went walkabout from a corner, but the defender nodded wide. Krul's finger-tips prevented Bale from adding a third after he raced through from a long punt down field before firing a powerful volley at goal.

Yohan Cabaye was guilty of putting in a terrible tackle on Dembele, stamping on the Belgian's ankle in a late attempt to win the ball. Spurs' players demanded a red card, but Phil Dowd issued just a yellow.

Newcastle threatened to equalise in the second of seven added minutes through substitute Shola Ameobi, but Lloris saved well to deny the striker.

Krul's acrobatics denied Bale his hat-trick twice in added time, but the winger did not mind. He had already done enough damage to see off the Toon.

Liverpool to assess Daniel Sturridge; West Brom without banned Goran Popov

The England international pulled out of the midweek friendly against Brazil with a thigh problem sustained in last weekend's draw at Manchester City.

Winger Raheem Sterling, who also withdrew from international duty, is fit while new signing Philippe Coutinho has had his first week of training after his move from Inter Milan but may require more time.

West Brom left-back Goran Popov will start a three-match suspension after being sent off for spitting at Tottenham defender Kyle Walker, ruling him out of Monday's clash at Anfield.

Baggies midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu is in contention to return to the starting line-up for the first time since January 1 after returning to training this week following a knee problem.

Head coach Steve Clarke has to decide whether to recall striker Peter Odemwingie, who was left out against Spurs after the collapse of his transfer deadline day move to QPR.

SAF fears over spending rules

United were one of the driving forces behind the measures agreed yesterday, whereby clubs will not be permitted to rack up losses of more than 105million over three years.

Clubs will also face limits on the amount by which they can increase their total player wage bills - and breaching either measure could lead to points deductions.

Ferguson said however: "It's all good in theory but the application of it will always be difficult. If people have money to burn they can place it anywhere in the world.

"I'll be interested to see how they think they can operate it. It would be good if it was applicable but I have my doubts. I think it's always going to be problem to try to enforce it."

Under the measures, clubs whose total wage bill is more than 52million will only be allowed to increase their wages by 4million per season for the next three years, though that cap does not cover extra money coming in from increases in commercial or matchday inc ome.

Arsenal have also pushed for financial fair play, but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said he favoured more individual freedom for clubs.

He said: "I personally am for financial fair play in the way that companies and the clubs respect to manage the club with their own resources.

"For the rest I am for freedom, how you use your resources inside the club. I am not in favour of a Brussels-type of society with centralised control with complicated rules. I believe every company should live within its own resources. For the rest, leave it to the company to manage their company how they want to do it.

"It is nonsense because we live in a world where, if you look at Europe, most of the countries are in a very difficult financial position and I believe the minimum we can do in our world is respect the financial balance."

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce said he hoped the new regulations would not lead to the club losing their top players.

He s aid: "Like everything else, it will probably start and we will have some flaws and if they get adjusted and amended as we go along that is fine.

"We will all have to try and live with what the new regulations will be when they are put in place. My only fear, from a personal point of view, is I hope we don't lose our best players."

Aston Villa were one of the clubs understood to have voted against the measures and their manager Paul Lambert insisted the proposals were still "up in the air".

He added: "Once it is set in stone then people can say whether it's good or bad.

"The Premier League is a vast football league and a business and you can't blame the players.

"Is the money crazy? Yes, it probably is. It's the way football is and the game is, it's not the fault of the players."

Adel Taarabt hopeful over QPR's Premier League survival chances

Harry Redknapp's side are rooted to the bottom of the table and know they will have to pull off a great escape if they want to retain their top-flight status, with six points currently between them and safety.

But the Hoops are unbeaten in five Premier League encounters and 23-year-old Morocco international Taarabt is still hopeful they can beat the drop.

"We have 13 games left and six points (between us and safety) and you never know, so I hope we can do it. We still believe," he told Sky Sports.

"This has happened, I don't know how to explain that. But everybody is trying to work hard and since the new manager has arrived we are doing better."

Taarabt, who missed a penalty last weekend as QPR's home clash against Norwich ended in a goalless draw, believes his side are in need of some good fortune.

"I think we needed a bit of luck because I think we play very good," he added. "Against Norwich I think we had a big chance to win the gam e.

"If I hadn't have missed the penalty we had a big chance to get close to the other teams. But I missed it and we focus on the next game."

Expectation

QPR brought in 11 new faces in last summer's transfer window and Taarabt believes that increased the expectation on them to do well this season.

"I think the expectation on QPR from people was big at the beginning of the season," he said.

"Everybody maybe saw us doing very well this season, because we bought 11 or 12 players, and it's been difficult."

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Roo puts title thoughts on hold

United have a built up a formidable nine-point lead over Manchester City and moved 16 clear of Chelsea with their win at Fulham last weekend.

Had it not been for their dramatic collapse last term, when they managed to blow an eight-point advantage in the space of just four games to hand the initiative to City, most observers would now be writing United up as champions already.

But Rooney has no intention of falling into that trap.

And with an Old Trafford encounter with his former club Everton on Sunday, whose fightback in the corresponding fixture last season blew the door open for City, the 27-year-old is adopting a blinkered approach to the situation.

"Results are the most important thing now," he said.

"Look at Manchester City against QPR. They should have got the win, had a lot of chances but ended up dropping two points.

"That could quite easily have happened to us against Southampton the following night.

"It pro ves we have to keep picking up the points when we can.

"Once it comes down to the last four or five games, then we will see what position we are in and work out what we have to do."

This is the moment City have been waiting for, though.

United must fight against the distraction of Wednesday's trip to Madrid - and that mouth-watering reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo - in order to maintain their present position.

It means that even more emphasis than usual will be placed on Sir Alex Ferguson's injury bulletin.

The bout of shingles that prevented Phil Jones joining up for England Under-21 duty this week is an obvious cause for concern, while Danny Welbeck was spotted with a minor limp as he left Wembley on Wednesday night.

There will also be an assessment of the condition of Shinji Kagawa following his return from Japan's friendly with Latvia and Javier Hernandez, who was on duty in Mexico, to determine what part they will play in next we ek's drama.

The fact Ferguson gave the green light to Rooney completing the full 90 minutes of England's victory over Brazil suggests he may be spared further exertion this weekend, although, as the forward pointed out, he is not the only one at United who gets their hands dirty when the graft has to be done.

"We don't have anyone who doesn't want to do the work," he said.

"We all look at the statistics after the game to see how much running we have done and are well aware of everything we do.

"There is no hiding place with all the technology and stuff."

Ferguson has still not forgotten how his side twice established a two-goal cushion against Everton last season and were unable to close out the contest.

It has been a similar story this term, only United have generally found a way to squeeze out a succession of unconvincing victories.

Rooney has no answer to a conundrum Ferguson has grown increasingly sick of trying to find a solution to.

However, while he, Robin van Persie and Hernandez in particular continue to find the net on a regular basis, the damage should not be too extensive.

"I can't put my finger on why we are not killing teams off," said Rooney.

"We have scored plenty of goals. It is the most number we have scored at this stage of the season.

"We have conceded too many and have done throughout the season.

"But that is the way we have been set up to play. We have to just keep our scoring going."

Luis Suarez feels Liverpool can push for UEFA Champions League

Liverpool sit nine points off fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with 13 games remaining, but have taken encouragement from their recent 2-2 draws at Arsenal and Manchester City.

Brendan Rodgers' side were the better team for long spells in both of those games and Suarez is delighted with the progress being made by the Reds.

"I'm very pleased and very happy because Liverpool is growing," Suarez, who has scored 17 Premier League goals this season, told Marca.

"It's not the team that it once was as they have had a dip. But now we have a new coach who has a philosophy of the game with which the players are very happy.

"The only thing missing is to have more positive results so we can finish in a Champions League spot.

"We showed we can match anyone, we had chances to win many of those matches.

"If we go in to every game in the Premier League with the same intensity that we've shown in the big matches, we can be much higher in the table."

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Yaya ready to help City fight

Nigeria's 2-1 win over Ivory Coast freed up Toure to return and he is set to feature in Saturday's game at Southampton as City attempt to cut Manchester United's nine-point lead at the summit.

Toure told the club's official website: "We are further behind than we'd like, of course, but all we need to do is think about last season to know what is possible.

"My friends are all here and are happy to see me and we are like a family or brothers who will all fight together - and that is a very important thing to have.

"United have a strong squad and on paper, they have an easier run in than we do but the title race is a long way from finished. It only takes a couple of results to go our way and we're right back in it - I'm sure we'll come back.

"I feel like I'm home again and I met some City fans before my flight from Paris to Manchester and they said 'welcome home, Yaya' and they said they wanted me to help the team and bring happiness to our s upporters. That's what I aim to do."