Bale shines as Spurs outclass Inter
Source: Agencies |
November 4, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TOTTENHAM beat defending champion Inter Milan 3-1 to record one of the greatest results in the club's history.
Rafael van der Vaart opened the scoring for Tottenham in the 18th minute before man-of-the-match Gareth Bale set up Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko for goals after the break.
Inter striker Samuel Eto'o had made it 2-1 with his seventh goal of the tournament but it could not stop Spurs going above the Italian champions on goal difference in Group A.
Manchester United beat Bursaspor 3-0 to move to the brink of qualification from Group C while Lyon's 100 percent record in Group B ended with a 4-3 defeat at Benfica, which came close to squandering a four-goal lead.
With Inter and Lyon failing to win, no side is through to the knockout stage yet.
Bale terrorized Inter's defense two weeks ago by scoring a stunning second-half hat trick when Spurs lost 4-3 at the San Siro.
The Wales winger put in just as good a performance at White Hart Lane, with Inter's Brazil right back Maicon undone time and again by Bale's trickery and pace.
"He was amazing. They're just doing some drug testing now - the dope testers are here, and I hope they're testing him," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp joked.
Van der Vaart ran onto Luka Modric's slipped through-ball to curl in a finish and maintain his run of scoring in every home game he's played for Tottenham since his deadline-day move.
Bale, who ran Maicon ragged in the first half, repeated the dose after the break and laid on perfect crosses for Crouch and Pavlyuchenko to apply almost identical finishes at the far post.
"From the first to the last we played unbelievably. Pressed them, outworked them, outplayed them all night," Redknapp said.
In the group's other match, Nacer Chadli and Luuk de Jong scored late goals to earn FC Twente a 2-0 win over 10-man Werder Bremen and put it on five points, two behind Spurs and Inter.
Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos earlier played out a second successive 0-0 draw to reduce their hopes of a top-two finish.
In Group C, United closed in on the last 16 thanks to a comfortable win in Bursa, secured through goals after the break by Darren Fletcher, Gabriel Obertan and Bebe.
United lost Nani to a groin strain midway through a dull first half but the game improved after the break and Fletcher broke the deadlock when he drilled home a diagonal finish after being found by Michael Carrick.
The Scottish champions began the night a point clear of Valencia but the Spanish side leapfrogged its opponents thanks to Roberto Soldado's brace and a third by substitute Tino Costa in a 3-0 win.
Group B leader Lyon would have made it into the last 16 with a point at Benfica but Claude Puel's side lost despite a remarkable late comeback after falling 4-0 behind.
The seven-time French champions had little chance of making it four wins in a row after conceding three first-half goals at the Estadio da Luz, with Alan Kardec, Fabio Coentrao and Javi Garcia finding the target in the space of 22 minutes.
Left back Coentrao extended Benfica's lead in the 67th before goals by France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, Bafetimbi Gomis and Dejan Lovren in the final 15 minutes almost rescued a point for Lyon.
Schalke drew 0-0 at Hapoel Tel Aviv to close the gap on Lyon to two points.
Rafael van der Vaart opened the scoring for Tottenham in the 18th minute before man-of-the-match Gareth Bale set up Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko for goals after the break.
Inter striker Samuel Eto'o had made it 2-1 with his seventh goal of the tournament but it could not stop Spurs going above the Italian champions on goal difference in Group A.
Manchester United beat Bursaspor 3-0 to move to the brink of qualification from Group C while Lyon's 100 percent record in Group B ended with a 4-3 defeat at Benfica, which came close to squandering a four-goal lead.
With Inter and Lyon failing to win, no side is through to the knockout stage yet.
Bale terrorized Inter's defense two weeks ago by scoring a stunning second-half hat trick when Spurs lost 4-3 at the San Siro.
The Wales winger put in just as good a performance at White Hart Lane, with Inter's Brazil right back Maicon undone time and again by Bale's trickery and pace.
"He was amazing. They're just doing some drug testing now - the dope testers are here, and I hope they're testing him," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp joked.
Van der Vaart ran onto Luka Modric's slipped through-ball to curl in a finish and maintain his run of scoring in every home game he's played for Tottenham since his deadline-day move.
Bale, who ran Maicon ragged in the first half, repeated the dose after the break and laid on perfect crosses for Crouch and Pavlyuchenko to apply almost identical finishes at the far post.
"From the first to the last we played unbelievably. Pressed them, outworked them, outplayed them all night," Redknapp said.
In the group's other match, Nacer Chadli and Luuk de Jong scored late goals to earn FC Twente a 2-0 win over 10-man Werder Bremen and put it on five points, two behind Spurs and Inter.
Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos earlier played out a second successive 0-0 draw to reduce their hopes of a top-two finish.
In Group C, United closed in on the last 16 thanks to a comfortable win in Bursa, secured through goals after the break by Darren Fletcher, Gabriel Obertan and Bebe.
United lost Nani to a groin strain midway through a dull first half but the game improved after the break and Fletcher broke the deadlock when he drilled home a diagonal finish after being found by Michael Carrick.
The Scottish champions began the night a point clear of Valencia but the Spanish side leapfrogged its opponents thanks to Roberto Soldado's brace and a third by substitute Tino Costa in a 3-0 win.
Group B leader Lyon would have made it into the last 16 with a point at Benfica but Claude Puel's side lost despite a remarkable late comeback after falling 4-0 behind.
The seven-time French champions had little chance of making it four wins in a row after conceding three first-half goals at the Estadio da Luz, with Alan Kardec, Fabio Coentrao and Javi Garcia finding the target in the space of 22 minutes.
Left back Coentrao extended Benfica's lead in the 67th before goals by France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, Bafetimbi Gomis and Dejan Lovren in the final 15 minutes almost rescued a point for Lyon.
Schalke drew 0-0 at Hapoel Tel Aviv to close the gap on Lyon to two points.
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