Bale bangs in goal on debut

By David Lee Wheatley

Welshman Gareth Bale scored on his debut in a Real Madrid shirt last night, as his new club took home a hard-earned point from Villarreal following an entertaining 2-2 draw.

The winger featured for 62 minutes at El Madrigal, scoring an equaliser to make it 1-1 after 38 minutes while undertaking a less-than-familiar role on the right. He managed to register a reasonably good performance, while endearing himself to the travelling fans with his strike to level after Cani put the hosts in front.

Dani Carvajal created the opportunity for Bale to score with a great run into the box on the right-hand side, before he crossed low towards the back post where the new boy slid in to beat his man to the ball and poke it home.

Bale almost got a second with a powerful left-footed effort from 25 yards that sailed just over the bar and he showed off his blistering pace on one particular occasion down the right in the second-half when beating two opposing players with ease before his attempted cross was unfortunately blocked.

The 24-year-old looked a little jaded when substituted just after the hour mark, but will surely feel ecstatic with a dream start to his career in Madrid. Only four minutes after he'd left the field of play, Real grabbed the lead through a deflected goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, which seemingly set them on their way to victory. However, the lead didn't last long as Villarreal levelled through Giovani on 70 minutes to shock the visiting side.

Most observers viewed Bale's first appearance as a success, but the team as a whole will be disappointed not to have secured the win against their newly-promoted opponents.

Once the Wales international gathers full fitness, he will be capable of making a huge impression at Real in the coming months and years. For Bale, yesterday simply couldn't have gone much better.

Twitter: @davewh1980

Lambert and Welbeck link-up lights up Wembley

By David Lee Wheatley

England ran away with a 4-0 World Cup qualification victory over Moldova last night, but lost two-goal Danny Welbeck to a harsh yellow card which rules the Manchester United forward out of Tuesday's crunch clash in the Ukraine.

Captain Gerrard set England on their way at Wembley with a fine drive into the bottom left-hand corner of the net after 12 minutes and the lead was doubled from close range midway through the opening period by Southampton striker Rickie Lambert on his first international start.

Danny Welbeck strayed marginally offside moments before half-time and went through with the shot at goal after the whistle had gone. Welbeck claimed he didn't hear the official, but was booked nonetheless. It was a strange decision by the referee in the circumstances, as it seemed a pointless exercise to waste time with England cruising and obviously far superior to their opponents. The booking puts the live-wire United man out of Tuesday's trip to Kiev and creates a real selection headache for manager Roy Hodgson, especially if natural replacement Daniel Sturridge fails to return to fitness in time.

The disappointment didn't dampen Welbeck's enthusiasm for the task in hand, as a probing pass from Lambert found his strike partner to run on to and finish easily right on the stroke of half-time.

Gerrard's long-range passing was finding the target every time with Ngland constantly forcing the issue in an attacking sense, while another clever piece of skill from Lambert presented Welbeck with his second and number four of the night for the home side on 50 minutes. Lambert dissected the Moldova defence with an accurate assist and Welbeck dinked the ball over the helpless goalkeeper to end the contest with most of the second half still to go.

Moldova were giving the likes of Wilshere and Walcott some rough treatment throughout and offered absolutely nothing going forward. Ukraine will offer much more of a threat next week and England will sorely miss Danny Welbeck on the evidence of yesterday's performance.

Roy Hodgson will be particularly pleased with Gerrard, Lambert and Welbeck, but knows he must find a solution to the suspension of the Manchester-born star. If Sturridge doesn't make it, that leaves options very thin on the ground for the England boss going into an extremely vital fixture.

Twitter: @davewh1980

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Ozil Vindicates Wenger Patience

By David Lee Wheatley

Arsenal made the major transfer breakthrough they craved yesterday when securing Real Madrid and Germany star Mesut Ozil for a club-record fee. Arsene Wenger bided his time in the run up to deadline day, but finally signed the world-class operator for a massive £42.4million.

Many fans feared there'd be no established players coming in for the Gunners after mooted deals for Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney and Gonzalo Higuain all hit the buffers. Arriving at the last chance saloon of this summer's transfer window, the situation suddenly took on a whole new promising outlook when it emerged Wenger was close to making Ozil the biggest signing in the club's history.

Despite long delays mainly caused by Ozil's involvement in the filming of an advertisement with the Germany national team in Munich, the move eventually went through to appease the hugely anxious Arsenal fans. Agreement on the fee came during the afternoon and a successful medical followed; it still took until approximately 9pm for the long-awaited official announcement, which coincided with the utter relief of those concerned.

It has since emerged that big spenders Paris Saint-Germain tried to turn Ozil's head during the course of the day, but the German international midfielder turned down their advances even in the face of a better contract package sitting on the table from the French side.

Ozil was the leading La Liga assist-maker last season and, at the age of 24, should be coming into the prime of his career as he embarks upon the first steps of an exciting new challenge in the Premier League. Plus, his unerring ability to pop up with an important goal every four or five appearances makes him an even more dangerous opponent for rivals to cope with. A regular at international level, Ozil is a man who can change the course of a match with a single pass.

Arsene Wenger looked simply shocked on the opening day of the league season when his Arsenal side were comprehensively beaten at home by Aston Villa, but he's slowly rebuilt confidence within his squad with league victories over Fulham and arch-enemies Tottenham Hotspur, as well as the relatively straightforward passage to the Champions League group stage when sweeping Fenerbahce aside. This latest boost is the cherry on the cake for the Frenchman, while placing Arsenal as serious contenders for a top-three position in the Premier League table this season.

Meanwhile, Ozil assumes the role of main man at the Emirates and he'll thrive in an environment where a side playing an attractive brand of football look to build the team around him. It was a surprise to many that Real Madrid chose to allow Ozil to move on in order to cover some of the cost of the mega-money Gareth Bale deal, when it was assumed lesser players would be sacrificed. Real's loss is most definitely Arsenal's gain and the Gunners can now look forward to witnessing one of the world's finest footballers showing his worth on behalf of their club.

Twitter: @davewh1980

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Spurs bag bargain of the summer

By David Lee Wheatley

Tottenham Hotspur's spending spree continues unabated as they attempt to construct a side capable of challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League without the considerable Real Madrid-bound talents of Gareth Bale.

Incoming stars Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue and Erik Lamela have all improved the depth of quality within Andre Villas-Boas' squad, but it's the signing of Dane Christian Eriksen that potentially represents the greatest value.

The slight attacking midfielder possesses wonderful technique on the ball, a keen eye for a telling pass and also great ability at set-pieces. Now 21 years of age, Eriksen is developing into a more mature footballer both physically and experience-wise. His £11.5m switch from Ajax is a major coup for the White Hart Lane club, with a plethora of sides circling around the most outstanding player of the Dutch league in recent seasons.

Ever since Luka Modric left for Real Madrid in 2012, the north Londoners have struggled to find a suitable replacement for the Croatian playmaker. In the young Danish international, they've finally secured a footballer worthy of taking on the mantle vacated by Modric last summer. Similar in stature and style, the pair are top-level footballers and the Dane is fully capable of making Spurs' supporters forget about the memory of both Modric and Gareth Bale in the process.

Ajax and the Eredivisie will be the poorer for losing Eriksen to the English game, but Tottenham will certainly reap the rewards of having struck the bargain buy of this transfer window.

Twitter: @davewh1980

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