Can Spurs Hold Onto Third Place?

Spurs over take Chelsea to go third in the league, yet again Gareth Bale stood up and won the game via a spectacular goal in the closing stages against West Ham last night. The question is, can Spurs hold onto third place?
The Hammers came from behind to take the lead against Tottenham. The two recruits from Liverpool, Andy Carroll and Joe Cole were on target for West Ham United but a late show from Bale ruined it all for the home side.
Jussi Jaaskelainen had a brilliant outing in the goal but was unlucky to be on the losing side. The goalie made several fantastic saves to deny Spurs from coming back into the game. However, he could do little against the goal mouth scramble that lead to Gylfi Sigurdsson’s equalizer in the 75th minute and had no answer to Bale’s stunning 25 yard strike that won all three points for the visitors.
Tottenham are now 2 points ahead of Chelsea and not only that, they are well and truly in a chance to over take 2nd place Manchester city as well.
With 11 games left in the premier league campaign, Spurs are just 5 points behind the champions and if they do continue their decent run of form then they may as well finish the season in second place.
In any case, the priority for Andre Villas Boas’s men would be to keep strong hold of the third place as Chelsea and Arsenal are right behind them chasing for champions league qualification. The third place will eventually guarantee them automatic qualification in Europe’s elite competition that they missed out last year only because Chelsea won the competition despite finishing out of top four.
Tottenham have to face tough ties in the coming weeks as next they are up against archrivals Arsenal who are 4 points behind them and then they have to face in form Liverpool side. The visit to Anfield will be even more tough as in between Spurs will be involved in Europa League with a round of 16 contest against Italian giants Inter Milan. The pressure will be immense, whether or not Spurs can hold onto third place, only time will tell.