Spurs rattle Inter as Chelsea slumps
Source: Agencies |
March 9, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
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STEAUA Bucharest revived memories of its glory days in the 1980s by beating European champion Chelsea 1-0, while the prolific Gareth Bale inflicted more damage on Inter Milan to put Tottenham Hotspur on the brink of the Europa League quarterfinals.
It was a chastening night for two recent winners of the Champions League in the last-16 first legs, with Chelsea slumping to a deserved loss in Bucharest when Raul Rusescu converted a 34th-minute penalty for Steaua.
Inter produced an even more inept display as Bale scored one goal and set up another for Jan Vertonghen in a 3-0 win for Spurs, tormenting the Italian side like he did three years ago in the Champions League when he first grabbed the attention of the footballing world.
Lazio and Basel will take 2-0 leads into the second legs of their matches against VfB Stuttgart and Zenit St Petersburg, respectively, while Benfica and Fenerbahce were also winners on Thursday, beating Bordeaux and Plzen by identical 1-0 margins.
The Anzhi Makhachkala-Newcastle United and Levante-Rubin Kazan games are delicately poised at 0-0.
Steaua was once a major force in Europe, winning the European Cup in 1986, reaching the same semifinals in 1988 before losing the 1989 final to AC Milan.
It was another memorable European night for the Romanian club on Thursday, hounding Chelsea into mistakes and grabbing the winner after Rusescu was shoved in the back by Ryan Bertrand. The center forward picked himself up and drilled home his spot kick.
Chelsea was way below its best and the limp loss will pile more pressure on beleaguered interim coach Rafa Benitez.
"We are disappointed because we conceded a goal with a soft penalty and had one or two chances to score," Benitez said. "This result means we have to win at home and we have to push together."
Bale starred again for Tottenham by taking his tally to 11 in his past nine games in all competitions but it was a dominant team display.
Bale capitalized on hesitant defending to open the scoring with a header in the sixth, before Gylfi Sigurdsson tapped in from close range to make it 2-0 in the 18th and Vertonghen added a third from Bale's corner eight minutes after halftime.
Bale blotted his performance by getting booked for diving in the first half, meaning he will miss the second leg.
It was a chastening night for two recent winners of the Champions League in the last-16 first legs, with Chelsea slumping to a deserved loss in Bucharest when Raul Rusescu converted a 34th-minute penalty for Steaua.
Inter produced an even more inept display as Bale scored one goal and set up another for Jan Vertonghen in a 3-0 win for Spurs, tormenting the Italian side like he did three years ago in the Champions League when he first grabbed the attention of the footballing world.
Lazio and Basel will take 2-0 leads into the second legs of their matches against VfB Stuttgart and Zenit St Petersburg, respectively, while Benfica and Fenerbahce were also winners on Thursday, beating Bordeaux and Plzen by identical 1-0 margins.
The Anzhi Makhachkala-Newcastle United and Levante-Rubin Kazan games are delicately poised at 0-0.
Steaua was once a major force in Europe, winning the European Cup in 1986, reaching the same semifinals in 1988 before losing the 1989 final to AC Milan.
It was another memorable European night for the Romanian club on Thursday, hounding Chelsea into mistakes and grabbing the winner after Rusescu was shoved in the back by Ryan Bertrand. The center forward picked himself up and drilled home his spot kick.
Chelsea was way below its best and the limp loss will pile more pressure on beleaguered interim coach Rafa Benitez.
"We are disappointed because we conceded a goal with a soft penalty and had one or two chances to score," Benitez said. "This result means we have to win at home and we have to push together."
Bale starred again for Tottenham by taking his tally to 11 in his past nine games in all competitions but it was a dominant team display.
Bale capitalized on hesitant defending to open the scoring with a header in the sixth, before Gylfi Sigurdsson tapped in from close range to make it 2-0 in the 18th and Vertonghen added a third from Bale's corner eight minutes after halftime.
Bale blotted his performance by getting booked for diving in the first half, meaning he will miss the second leg.
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