‘Record man’ Defoe fires Spurs into Europa last 32
Print Edition
Jermain Defoe broke Tottenham Hotspur’s European goal-scoring record on Thursday as he steered his side into the knockout phase of the Europa League with a tough 2-1 victory over Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol.
Spurs join Valencia, Esbjerg, Fiorentina and Dninpro in the last-32 who all booked their places with two matches still remaining in the group phase.
Defoe’s clinical 67th-minute penalty, which not only makes him the competition’s top scorer with five goals from four matches, also gave him 23 European goals, one more than former England international Martin Chivers.
Chivers, who scored 13 goals in 24 matches for England, helped the side win the same competition in 1972 when it was known as the UEFA Cup.
“Some things are written, I couldn’t get a lot of space in the first half but I just tried to stay patient and top of the list now, I’m delighted,” said England striker Defoe. “I saw Martin (Chivers) at half-time, he’s a legend and he just told me to get it so it’s special for me.”
Valencia, which won the tournament in 2004 and was twice beaten Champions League finalist, is also into the next round after a Sergio Canales’ goal five minutes from time gave it a 3-2 victory at Swiss side St Gallen.
Premier League club Swansea City blew a victory chance against Kuban Krasnodar for the second time when it conceded a last-gasp equalizer.
Despite playing the last quarter of an hour with 10 men following defender Xandao’s red card at Kuban Stadium, the Russians netted two minutes into injury time through Ibrahima Balde to earn a 1-1 draw.
Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Bony had given the Welsh visitors an early lead.
Fiorentina, which lost the 1990 final against Serie A rival Juventus, continued its progress by making it four wins out of four with two goals in the last four minutes from Ryder Matos and Borja Valero which gave it a 2-1 win at Romania’s Pandurii Targu-Jiu.
Austria Vienna also cruised into next year’s knockout phase, despite a 2-2 home draw against Belgian club Genk.
Denmark also has a representative in the draw, which will be made on December 13, after Esbjerg edged Swedish neighbor Elfsborg 1-0 thanks to Mick van Buren’s winner.
Ukraine’s Dnipro is also through after beating Portuguese club Pacos de Ferreira 2-0.
In a second Anglo-Russian clash, Rubin Kazan opened a clear gap at the top of Group D with a 1-0 win over Wigan.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
