Villas-Boas was at pains to point out the similarities between Bale and Ronaldo during the week, and the Welshman put in a performance the Portuguese would have been proud of today.

Bale beat Tim Krul with a 25-yard free kick to open the scoring for the Londoners and then sealed the win with a superb breakaway goal that ended with him slotting the ball between the Newcastle goalkeeper’s legs.

“It was a massive game today. It was just important to come back and put pressure on the teams above us,” Bale told Sky Sports 1. “I am enjoying my football at the moment and that’s the most important thing. I’m just going to keep my head down and be focused.”

Newcastle dominated large parts of the game but Bale, like he has done so many times this season, swung the game in Spurs’ favour.

Bale was employed through the middle for large parts Saturday, which Villas-Boas believes is helping the midfielder make an even greater impact.

“Today we started where he finished the second half against West Brom (last weekend),” Villas-Boas said. “We gave him the same freedom. When a player feels good about the position he enjoys it more.”

The 23-year-old, who scored the decisive goals in Tottenham’s last two matches, now has 19 goals for club and country this season. Only the athletic brilliance of Krul prevented him from scoring a hat trick.

Newcastle’s goal came from Yoan Gouffran, who was later carried off on a stretcher with a serious-looking leg injury.

The win stretched Tottenham’s unbeaten Premier League run to 10 matches and put the north London club into third temporarily until Chelsea beat Wigan later Saturday.

Villas-Boas and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew fell out last season, but there was a strong sense of bonhomie as they embraced on the touchline before kickoff.

Bale was in no mood to show the visitors the same love. 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 that dipped over the wall past a diving Krul.

Spurs dominated the rest of the opening quarter with some scintillating attacking football.

Mousa Dembele penetrated the box and rolled the ball back to Holtby, who came within inches of scoring his first goal for the club.

Thereafter Newcastle came back in to the game. Lloris saved from a Gouffran curler and Cisse directed a free diving header just wide of his compatriot’s goal.

Holtby momentarily raised the hopes of the home crowd, but Newcastle remained on top and the seemingly inevitable equalizer came with 24 minutes gone.

Sissoko galloped down the right on a Newcastle counter and pulled the ball back to Gouffran, who beat Lloris via a deflection from the diving Michael 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.

Gutierrez whipped a cross in to the box to find Yohan Cabaye, but the Frenchman miscontrolled and Lloris came to the rescue.

Tottenham failed to up its performance straight after the break.

The game came to a pause for seven minutes as Gouffran received treatment for what looked like a serious injury. 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.

“His shinbone looks sore. It’s fingers crossed,” Pardew said. “We don’t want to lose him, he’s only just come to the club.”

Bale looked to be 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 in to the box but it was cut out before Dempsey could score.

Bale came forward again, charging at the defense before firing a powerful shot that Taylor blocked bravely.

Taylor went from hero to villain moments later, however, as his mix-up with Coloccini allowed Bale to race through the Toon defense and fire between the legs of Krul to make it 2-1.

Caulker had a chance to seal the win moments later with a free header when Krul went walkabout, but the defender nodded wide.

Only Krul’s fingertips prevented the Welshman from adding a third after he raced through from a long punt downfield before firing a powerful volley at goal.

“He is definitely a great keeper,” Bale said. “I was disappointed with the goal I missed on my right foot. I’ll have to work on that.”

Cabaye put 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 equalize 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.

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Persistent rumours in Spain have linked both the Real Madrid coach and the team’s talisman with a move to the Qatari-backed Ligue 1 side. Mourinho’s regular rows with his dressing-room and Ronaldo’s ongoing ‘unhappiness’ regarding his contract situation have been seen as offering PSG an ideal opportunity to pounce.

And the French club’s current biggest star Ibrahimovic says he would welcome the pair with open arms.

“That would be great news for any team as Mourinho is a great coach, among the best in the world, and Cristiano Ronaldo is also among the best players around,” Zlatan told Marca. “But at the moment that is not the reality. People can dream about their arrival and speculate, but until it happens you cannot give an answer.”

The Sweden international also revealed his feelings about the decision of his former coach Pep Guardiola to take charge at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich next season. Ibrahimovic, who did not always see eye to eye with Guardiola during their season together at Barcelona, believes the Catalan coach’s choice of new club has given him a chance to repeat his past success.

“It is his personal decision, what he thinks he should do,” he said. “I think that is the most important. It is a good opportunity that he can take advantage of. It is a big club, with great players and an impressive structure and organisation. The German mentality is different. He has the same opportunity to repeat the work he did in Barcelona. He will be at one of the five best teams in the world.”

PSG face La Liga side Valencia in the Champions League last 16 next month, and Ibrahimovic is expecting a close encounter over the two legs.

“Valencia play good football,” he said. “We must be careful. The first game at the Mestalla will be very important. They are a tough team and we must be very focused. Little details will decide the tie.”

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“I want to see out my contract at Real Madrid: I’m very clear about that. After that, well, I don’t know what’ll happen in the future,” Ronaldo said in an interview with FIFA.com.

Ronaldo was serving a suspension and did not play on Saturday against Osasuna. Real Madrid was held to a 0-0 draw, leaving the team 18 points behind leaders Barcelona at the halfway point of the La Liga season.

Retaining the league title is unlikely, Ronaldo admitted.

“We have not started the championship very well, for sure,” Ronaldo said. “We know that La Liga is an uphill struggle for us now, but nothing is impossible in football. We are going to work hard, win games and see what happens. And, of course, there is the Champions League and the Copa del Rey too. There is plenty for us to win this season.”

Ronaldo also acknowledged that he feels even more pressure to play well at Real Madrid than he did when he was under contract for Manchester United.

“I’ve been here for 3½ years now and I think that’s the case because everyone involved is totally focused on winning the club’s 10th European Cup. That creates a certain amount of anxiety, which can be felt at all times,” Ronaldo said, adding that he thinks the pressure sometimes gets to the team. “But we have to try and rise above it and not let what people say get to us, particularly the media, as Real Madrid get spoken about every day. At the end of the day it comes down to an individual decision, whether you want to read the papers or not. I don’t think what the papers say matters too much, so there’s no need to overdramatize the issue.”

Ronaldo defended coach Jose Mourinho’s style.

“People do protest and you have to respect that, though I think they should be a bit patient with him. To me it’s very clear that Mourinho always wants what’s best for the club and will fight to the death to defend it,” he said. “In my view he’s the best coach in the world, he’s got loads of experience and has won everything there is to win.”

Real Madrid hosts Valencia in Tuesday’s Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg, where Ronaldo will likely see action, along with Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema and Ricardo Carvalho.

Regarding February’s Champions League last-16 match against his former club Manchester United, Ronaldo said he saw the ties as a difficult step towards a 10th European Cup for Madrid.

“Every Madridista wants that 10th European Cup — we are more than aware of that,” he said. “Last season we fell just short, which was very frustrating. The fact we face Manchester United next makes it more difficult. It is not going to be easy and I reckon the odds are about 50-50, but I am still very confident.”

Despite last week’s rumors he is being courted by Paris Saint Germain, Ronaldo gave no indication of the “sadness” he reported last September that sparked the speculation about his future.

“I’m doing something I like, something that I enjoy,” he said. “I know how fortunate I am and I feel very fulfilled.”

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It was a miserable night for Madrid, who was without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, with Kaka sent off 19 minutes after coming on as a substitute, while Jose Maria Callejon had a goal disallowed for a borderline offside decision.

The result means Madrid is 15 points behind La Liga leader Barcelona, which plays Malaga on Sunday, and four behind neighbor Atletico.

Osasuna had the better of the second half and could have won, but its final ball continually let them down.

Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had been dropped by Mourinho for the past two league games, returned to the side with replacement Antonio Adan suspended following his red card last time out.

Ronaldo was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last week, and his absence was keenly felt.

Mourinho acknowledged the strong performance of Casillas but would not guarantee the club captain will be in the starting side next week.

In our last two games, the team has played well defensively, and (Casillas) has been a part of that,” Mourinho explained. “I liked how he played against Celta as well, rising to the occasion to give his team a boost. Nevertheless, it is still too early to tell if he will play against Valencia on Tuesday.”

There was little of note in the opening stages with neither team creating any clear openings.

Osasuna’s Damia’s opening shot went wide, and it took until the 25th minute for Madrid to have an effort on goal, with Angel Di Maria firing past the post.

Madrid was finding it a struggle to get in behind the hosts’ defense, and when Fabio Coentrao found himself unmarked on the left of the area, rather than provide a crisp pass to the onrushing Gonzalo Higuain, the defender headed the ball into the ground and the hosts cleared.

Callejon’s back header narrowly cleared the bar for Madrid and as the half wore down, Osasuna midfielder Alvaro Cejudo blazed a half-volley high and wide.

Madrid failed to take advantage of a good chance in the final minute when Callejon set up Coentrao with the goalkeeper out of position but he fired wide.

The second half started much as the first ended with plenty of possession for Madrid but no clear openings.

Two quick-fire corners for Osasuna ended with Manuel Lolo heading over when he could have directed it across Casillas and into the far corner, but the hosts were enjoying a threatening spell, with Emiliano Armenteros forcing the goalkeeper to go down to his left.

The tempo of the game had risen considerably and Osasuna sensed it could take all three points, an outcome that appeared more possible when Madrid was reduced to 10 men.

Kaka had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he was booked and when he did not retreat so Osasuna could take a quick free kick, he was given a second yellow in the 77th minute.

However, it was Madrid that thought it had taken the lead moments later, but Callejon was judged to have been offside in a borderline decision.

Karim Benzema forced Fernandez to go down to collect his shot in Madrid’s first shot on target in the second half but it was one of the last kicks of a miserable game for the visitors.

Roberto Soldado took his tally to 17 goals for the season as Valencia beat Sevilla 2-0 and continued its improvement since Ernesto Valverde replaced Mauricio Pellegrino as coach.

Los Che made it seven wins from eight games under Valverde to move up to seventh a point behind Malaga in the final Champions League spot in fourth. Sevilla remains 12th in the table following the loss.

Soldado netted from close range five minutes into the second half then wrapped up the win in the closing moments with a header from a Pablo Piatti corner to make it 11 La Liga goals for the season.

Patrick Ebert inspired Valladolid with two goals and an assist as it claimed its first win in five games over Mallorca with a 3-1 victory.

The German fired the hosts into the lead with a wonderful strike from 20 yards after 21 minutes but Mallorca was level before halftime as Victor rose to head home Javier Arizmendi’s cross 16 minutes later.

Ebert proved the difference in the dying minutes as Oscar Gonzalez turned home his cross three minutes from time and the former Hertha Berlin man then went through on goal and jinked past Dudu Aouate before slotting into an empty net.

Sergio Garcia’s first-half goal was enough to hand Espanyol a crucial three points as it moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.

The former Spanish international gave the hosts the perfect start as he tapped home Christian Stuani’s cross from close range on 23 minutes, and despite having more of the ball after the break, Celta struggled to create clear-cut chances.

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