Jermain Defoe scored twice as Tottenham booked their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win over Stevenage in their fifth round replay.
The White Hart Lane crowd was stunned into silence in the opening minutes when Ryan Nelsen brought down Joel Byrom, with the midfielder picking himself up to calmly send Carlo Cudicini the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Spurs were back on terms with a route one reply in the 26th minute, with Bale's long ball out of defence brought down by Defoe with his first touch, before his second sent the ball whistling beyond Chris Day from outside the area.
Bale was involved again as Harry Redknapp's side took the lead in the 55th minute.
Mark Roberts was penalised for a foul on the flying winger and Emmanuel Adebayor made no mistake from the spot.
Bale's quick-thinking from a throw then set Defoe clear of the snoozing Stevenage defence, with the striker cutting back inside to find the far corner of the net beyond Day's despairing dive to set up a home meeting with Bolton in the last eight.
Redknapp's night was blighted by two injury concerns, with Michael Dawson stretchered off early on after landing awkwardly following an aerial challenge and Aaron Lennon limped out of the action and straight down the tunnel before the interval.
