Associated Press Sports
updated 8:21 p.m. ET July 31, 2012
HARRISON, N.J. (AP) - Gareth Bale and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored second-half goals to lead English Premier League club Tottenham to its only win on a preseason tour of the U.S. with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday night.
The win gave the EPL's fourth-place finisher last season the New York Cup, marking the second time in three years the Spurs have won a trophy in the Big Apple. They previously beat the Red Bulls 2-1 in the 2010 Barclay's New York Challenge.
Sigurdsson snapped a 1-1 tie in the 64th minute after finding a sliver of space between himself and Red Bulls defender Markus Holgersson deep on the left side. He hooked a high shot into the upper right corner past leaping Red Bulls goalie Bill Gaudette.
Bale, playing at forward instead of midfield with Tottenham carrying only one front-liner on the three-exhibition tour, evened the game in the 54th when he jumped over the shorter Dax McCarty and headed in a corner kick.
Kenny Cooper, a 13-goal scorer in the regular season, put the Red Bulls ahead 1-0 in the 8th minute with a penalty kick after defender Jan Vertonghen took down former Everton midfielder Tim Cahill in the box.
Cooper converted with a low shot near the left post, and it stood as the Red Bulls' only shot of a sluggish first half for both teams.
The Spurs fared only slightly better, getting off five shots but only two on goal. One of those was thwarted by a leaping Gaudette, who lifted Bale's high, hard shot just over the crossbar in the 12th minute.
Cahill, signed by the Red Bulls last Thursday, spent the previous eight seasons in the EPL, scoring 68 goals in 278 appearances with Everton.
Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry sat out to rest after an intense stretch of games and midfielder Rafa Marquez was a late scratch with discomfort in his left calf. He was replaced by Connor Lade.
In the first two matches on its tour, Tottenham drew with the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 and played to a scoreless draw with EPL rival Liverpool.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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