Tottenham Hotspurs fluffed a penalty and converted another amid a brilliant goalkeeping antics of the FC Twente goalkeeper who seemed to have 2 bones to chew with van der Vaart. Crouch was wrestled to the ground midway through the second half. Twente goalie stepped up out of the goal-line far too early to thwart the Dutchmen. Van der Vaart's frustration was painfully extended moments later when his ferocious strike was parried out for a corner.
He was not to be denied in the opening minutes of the second half with a class act, when his emphatic finish set wasteful Spurs ahead. Gary Baile had an injury scare earlier on when he skid off the field on a slippery night at White Hart Lane. Russian Pavlyuchenko score a few minutes later when Gareth Baile was crudely tackled in the box to put Spurs 2-0 up.
That lead did not last long either when very poor and undisciplined defending by Spurs was punished by Twente. Gomes, coming back from injury had several first class saves to make in each half. In the absence of Jenas and Palacios, a yawning gap in central midfield was the biggest Spurs concern until Jenas came on in the 63rd minute.
Pavlyuchenko had converted his second penalty to seal the deal for the hosts. FC Twente had cried foul over each of the 3 penalties awarded to them, their emotions ever raising even more when their case was thrown out of the window. Van der Vaart's first half hard was nullified when he poured water over his otherwise wonderful night when he was booked for an unnecessary challenge on the touch-line.
The introduction of Jenas solidified the porous central channel and even with a numerical disadvantage, Spurs started to play like a home team in the lead from the 68th minute. Twente kept knocking at the door gently enough to keep Spurs on toes and getting nothing serious going on. It was to be a comprehensive display of total football that Spurs had to teach the Dutch masters for free, when Baile scored the 85th goal of great quality.
For UEFA Champions League debutants, it was a five-star performance. Other results, Samuel Eto'o was on a hat-trick as Inter beat Werder Bremen 4 - 0. Hapoel Tel Aviv lost 1 - 3 a home fixture against Lyon. Bastos scored twice. German side Shalke 04 beat Benfica 2 - 0 as Valencia lost at home to Manchester United 0 - 1. Rangers were 1 - 0 victors over Borsaspor and Barcelona were held 1 - 1 draw at Rubin Kazan.
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