Written by Viorel Mesca
Welsh international Gareth Bale was the hattrick hero as Tottenham lost 4-3 to European defending champions Inter. The home side scored 3 within the first 15 minutes and added another in the 34th minute to give them a 4-0 lead at half time. Spurs, dubbed by the press as the “Comeback Kings” in the past few weeks, scored 3 goals in the second half only to leave their fans wondering what it could have been if their team had had a few minutes of extra time available.
Spurs conceded the first goal in the 2nd minute as Zanetti broke forward to score following an interesting build-up by Coutinho and Samuel Eto’o. Thanks to this, Zanetti became the oldest scorer in the competition’s history at 37 years and 71 days.
Minutes later, Gomes brought down Jonathan Biabiany in the penalty area and was sent off. Nightmare start for Spurs as Eto’o converted the penalty kick to give his side a 2-0 lead.
In just 10 men and with Luka Modric replaced by Cudicini, Spurs conceded another when Stankovic played a neat one-two with Samuel Eto’o and slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corned of the net. 3-0 for Inter in just 14 minutes! Harry’s lads were shocked as thanks to poor defending and lack of concentration.
Spurs missed a great chance to score when Peter Crouch failed to keep his header down following an impressive build-up by Aaron Lennon.
Tottenham were left to rue missed opportunities as wonderkid Coutinho cut inside from the left and produced a through ball to Samuel Eto’o who took advantage of Gallas’ poor attempt to play the offside trap and poked the ball into Cudicini’s net. 4-0 for Inter at half-time.
The hosts suffered a blow in the beginning of the second half as Stankovic was taken off the field due to injury and minutes later Gareth Bale got one back for the away side as he picked the ball up in his half and immediately burst past two Inter players, continued running until he reached the edge of the area where he powered the ball into the net. Great goal for Bale.
Inter nearly added another from the kick-off when Davide Santon cut inside and shot at Cudicini’s near side but the goalkeeper did well to stop the ball.
Wonderkid Coutinho continued impressing and he was involved in almost every play for his side all night. He nearly got on the scoresheet on the hour mark when he controlled the ball and shot narrowly wide.
As full-time was approaching, Inter slowed down the tempo in order not to concede, but Gareth Bale scored another 2 to complete his hattrick.
As the clock entered stoppage time, he ran down the left-flank and again beat Cesar by slamming the ball into the net.
Just one minute later, Aaron Lennon picked up the ball on the right flank, drove inside towards the edge of the area, passing the ball to an unmarked Gareth Bale who scored his third and final goal of the match.
Despite the loss, this match will be remembered by many fans for a very, very long time.
Mamma mia! Is it just me or Gareth Bale was outstanding last night?
