Tottenham 3 QPR 1

Tottenham stretched their unbeaten run to seven matches and moved level on points with fourth-placed Newcastle thanks to a routine win over QPR at White Hart Lane.

Gareth Bale opened the scoring with a sweet drive past Paddy Kenny in the 20th minute before Rafael van der Vaart added a second soon after to equal the club's record of scoring in five successive Barclays Premier League games.

Substitute Jay Bothroyd pulled one back for QPR in the second half, but Bale calmed the home fans' nerves 20 minutes from time with a wonderful curling shot after a neat exchange with Aaron Lennon on the edge of the box.

Arsenal's win over Chelsea yesterday proved the race for the top four promises to be a tough one, but on the evidence of most of Tottenham's display today, they should be regarded as serious challenges.

A few second-half wobbles aside, Bale, Van der Vaart and in particular Scott Parker all put in almost flawless displays to highlight the clear gulf in class between the two London sides and ensure Spurs' impressive run continued.

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