'Incredible' Bale gives Spurs win
Source: Agencies |
February 16, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
GARETH Bale continued his torrid form, scoring two goals from free kicks to guide Tottenham past Lyon 2-1 in the first leg of a Europa League tie in London on Thursday.
Liverpool, the five-time European Cup champions, lost 2-0 at Zenit St Petersburg.
Inter Milan won 2-0 at home against Cluj thanks to Rodrigo Palacio's double.
Tottenham, which is only a point behind Chelsea in the Premier League, still has a difficult return fixture to navigate in Lyon.
Bale fired Tottenham in front in first-half stoppage time directly from a 35-meter free kick in which the ball dipped over the defensive wall into the net.
That goal, however, was surpassed by the brilliance of Lyon's leveler.
Samuel Umtiti seized upon a headed clearance and unleashed a first-time half-volley from the edge of the penalty area that swerved past goalkeeper Brad Friedel into the top corner.
But another free kick at the end of the second half was expertly dispatched by Bale again into the net.
"He's incredible," Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said. "Not only his all-round game but this ability that he has to strike these free-kicks. The ball gains so much power when he strikes it and it changes direction very easily."
While Tottenham's priority is finishing in the Premier League's top four to secure Champions League football next season, Liverpool's focus is squarely on this season's Europa League.
A full-strength Liverpool team conceded two goals in two minutes in Moscow from the 70th with Hulk and Sergei Semak scoring, leaving the Reds with a difficult task in the return leg at Anfield.
Liverpool squandered numerous chances to take the lead in the first half.
Another Russian team, Rubin Kazan, won by the same score line to stun defending champion Atletico Madrid.
Goals from Gokdeniz Karadeniz and Pablo Orbaiz ended a 21-match winning streak at the Vicente Calderon for Atletico.
Bayer Leverkusen conceded at home for the first time in Europe this season, with Oscar Cardozo's second-half strike giving Benfica a well-earned 1-0 win in Germany.
Hannover was beaten 3-1 by Anzhi Makhachkala, which got goals from Samuel Eto'o, Odil Ahmedov and Mbark Boussoufa.
The highest-scoring game of the night was Borussia Monchengladbach's 3-3 draw against Lazio.
The teams in the strongest position to advance are Levante and Viktoria Plzen, who both won their first legs 3-0.
Plzen stunned Napoli with a surprisingly comfortable win at the Serie A title chasers, with Vladimar Darida, Stanislav Tecl and Frantisek Rajtoral scoring for the Czech Republic club.
Pedro Rios, Jose Barkero and Obafemi Martins scored for Levante at home against Olympiakos.
In Belarus, Fenerbahce held on for a 0-0 draw at BATE Borisov despite playing with 10 men after Raul Meireles was sent off for hacking Alexander Hleb from behind.
It was also scoreless between Newcastle and Metalist Kharkiv after Papiss Cisse had two goals for the English hosts disallowed for offside.
There was also a draw in the Ukranian capital as Dynamo Kiev was held 1-1 by Bordeaux after Lukman Haruna's opener for the hosts was canceled out by Ludovic Obraniak.
In other results on Valentine's Day, Valentin Stocker scored Basel's first in a 2-0 victory over Dnipro, while Ajax beat Steaua Bucharest by the same score, and Genk drew 1-1 at Stuggart.
Liverpool, the five-time European Cup champions, lost 2-0 at Zenit St Petersburg.
Inter Milan won 2-0 at home against Cluj thanks to Rodrigo Palacio's double.
Tottenham, which is only a point behind Chelsea in the Premier League, still has a difficult return fixture to navigate in Lyon.
Bale fired Tottenham in front in first-half stoppage time directly from a 35-meter free kick in which the ball dipped over the defensive wall into the net.
That goal, however, was surpassed by the brilliance of Lyon's leveler.
Samuel Umtiti seized upon a headed clearance and unleashed a first-time half-volley from the edge of the penalty area that swerved past goalkeeper Brad Friedel into the top corner.
But another free kick at the end of the second half was expertly dispatched by Bale again into the net.
"He's incredible," Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said. "Not only his all-round game but this ability that he has to strike these free-kicks. The ball gains so much power when he strikes it and it changes direction very easily."
While Tottenham's priority is finishing in the Premier League's top four to secure Champions League football next season, Liverpool's focus is squarely on this season's Europa League.
A full-strength Liverpool team conceded two goals in two minutes in Moscow from the 70th with Hulk and Sergei Semak scoring, leaving the Reds with a difficult task in the return leg at Anfield.
Liverpool squandered numerous chances to take the lead in the first half.
Another Russian team, Rubin Kazan, won by the same score line to stun defending champion Atletico Madrid.
Goals from Gokdeniz Karadeniz and Pablo Orbaiz ended a 21-match winning streak at the Vicente Calderon for Atletico.
Bayer Leverkusen conceded at home for the first time in Europe this season, with Oscar Cardozo's second-half strike giving Benfica a well-earned 1-0 win in Germany.
Hannover was beaten 3-1 by Anzhi Makhachkala, which got goals from Samuel Eto'o, Odil Ahmedov and Mbark Boussoufa.
The highest-scoring game of the night was Borussia Monchengladbach's 3-3 draw against Lazio.
The teams in the strongest position to advance are Levante and Viktoria Plzen, who both won their first legs 3-0.
Plzen stunned Napoli with a surprisingly comfortable win at the Serie A title chasers, with Vladimar Darida, Stanislav Tecl and Frantisek Rajtoral scoring for the Czech Republic club.
Pedro Rios, Jose Barkero and Obafemi Martins scored for Levante at home against Olympiakos.
In Belarus, Fenerbahce held on for a 0-0 draw at BATE Borisov despite playing with 10 men after Raul Meireles was sent off for hacking Alexander Hleb from behind.
It was also scoreless between Newcastle and Metalist Kharkiv after Papiss Cisse had two goals for the English hosts disallowed for offside.
There was also a draw in the Ukranian capital as Dynamo Kiev was held 1-1 by Bordeaux after Lukman Haruna's opener for the hosts was canceled out by Ludovic Obraniak.
In other results on Valentine's Day, Valentin Stocker scored Basel's first in a 2-0 victory over Dnipro, while Ajax beat Steaua Bucharest by the same score, and Genk drew 1-1 at Stuggart.
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