7 Years and 166 Days: Bale's Second First Goal proves Decisive

For months he sat on the bench, harassed by the Spanish media. For months, he was unused by manager Zinadine Zidane, after winning 4 straight Champion's League trophies. For months, we wondered if he would ever see Gareth Bale return to the level we all know he's capable of playing at. 

The wait, is finally over.

Bale came into Tottenham's game against Brighton and Hove Albion in the 70th minute, with the score level at 1-1. Brighton came off their best spell of the match, capped by a controversial equalizer from Tariq Lamptey. 2 minutes after coming on, Bale announced his return to the club he stared at 7 years prior when he buried a cross from Sergio Reguilón into the bottom left corner of Robert Sánchez's goal. 

This goal meant an incredible deal to everyone on the night. For Brighton, their hard work on a night where they were the better side came up short yet again, showing that hard work cannot compensate for their lack of star quality. For Tottenham, this win was crucial in their early season title challenge and a needed bounce back after a disappointing loss to Royal Antwerp of Belgium on Thursday. 

Most importantly, for Gareth Bale, this goal announced to all of Europe that he's still capable of producing the moments of magic that saw him rise to the top with Spurs before moving to Real Madrid, where he won everything possible alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. 7 years and 166 days after a stunning strike from distance against Sunderland closed out his Spurs career, an excellent header showed the world that Bale is far from done.