UEFA Cup - First Leg Braga 2 Tottenham 3
Robbie Keane grabbed an injury-time winner for Tottenham in the first leg of their UEFA Cup last-16 clash against SC Braga in Portugal.
Keane had opened the scoring earlier before Steed Malbranque doubled the lead, although Paulo Jorge and Ze Carlos cancelled out Spurs' advantage.
Just as they did in the Premiership against West Ham on Sunday, Spurs left it late, with Keane keeping his cool this time to put his side in the driving seat to reach the quarter-finals, continuing his rich vein of form in knockout competitions after scoring every round of the FA Cup.
Spurs have not beaten their local rivals Arsenal in nearly eight years but were dramatic victors over the club known as `Arsenal do Minho', nicknamed after they changed their colours in the 1930s to that of the Gunners.
Estadio Municipal de Braga, which was used at Euro 2004, was not full but fans created a carnival atmosphere on either side of the pitch, with the famous cliff and grass verge behind each goal.
The hosts were coached by Jorge Costa, who had a spell at Charlton as a player before being part of the successful Porto team that won the UEFA Cup and Champions League under current Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
Costa, who had beaten Spurs as a player at The Valley, used the 4-3-3 formation Mourinho had success with at Stamford Bridge, yet it was the visitors who were the first to threaten.
Dimitar Berbatov took only six minutes to create his first chance, dancing around veteran playmaker Joao Pinto before deceiving Jorge in the penalty area and poking wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Much of the first-half action centred around Berbatov, the Bulgaria striker next to see an effort blocked by Rodriguez.
However, Berbatov was wasteful with his best sight of goal, dragging his one-on-one effort wide after Malbranque slid the ball through to him.
Later in the half, he forced goalkeeper Paulo Santos to save on his line after side-footing a Young-Pyo Lee cross on target, but the former Bayer Leverkusen striker also created Spurs' other chances.
He weighted a ball through to Teemu Tainio but the Finland midfielder had his effort saved and, 10 minutes before the break, he provided the pass for Keane, who saw his fierce near-post shot fly over the bar off Santos' forearm.
It was not all one-way traffic, though. Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson was required to parry Gama's long-range attempt early on, and Wender could not create anything with the rebound.
Castanheira had also tried his luck from the edge of the area, before Rodriguez's cross from the right found its way to the back post and Gama forced another save.
It was an unusually open first-leg clash but Aaron Lennon was not having much joy early on the left flank after being given an opportunity to run at his opposing full-back.
He did have a tame penalty appeal turned down in the 39th minute, with Luis Filipe accusing the England winger of going to ground too easily.
However, Lennon appeared to benefit from the half-time break and he created Keane's 57th-minute opener with an impish piece of skill.
He squeezed through Rodriguez and Andrade as they closed in then scooped the ball to Keane, who chested it before lashing in his volley over Santos.
Keane should have doubled the lead just after the hour mark with a free header that was off-target, but Malbranque did get Spurs' second with 18 minutes remaining.
Lennon was the provider again, although his tame shot should have been held by Santos before Malbranque forced in the rebound. Substitute Diego was fouled in the area by Anthony Gardner in the 75th minute, with Jorge scoring after Robinson had saved his spot-kick.
Ze Carlos levelled matter with nine minutes remaining, heading in for the hosts from a free-kick on the right to cancel out Spurs' earlier good work.
Keane grabbed a winner deep into injury-time when Zokora played him through and he finished past Santos.
Keane had opened the scoring earlier before Steed Malbranque doubled the lead, although Paulo Jorge and Ze Carlos cancelled out Spurs' advantage.
Just as they did in the Premiership against West Ham on Sunday, Spurs left it late, with Keane keeping his cool this time to put his side in the driving seat to reach the quarter-finals, continuing his rich vein of form in knockout competitions after scoring every round of the FA Cup.
Spurs have not beaten their local rivals Arsenal in nearly eight years but were dramatic victors over the club known as `Arsenal do Minho', nicknamed after they changed their colours in the 1930s to that of the Gunners.
Estadio Municipal de Braga, which was used at Euro 2004, was not full but fans created a carnival atmosphere on either side of the pitch, with the famous cliff and grass verge behind each goal.
The hosts were coached by Jorge Costa, who had a spell at Charlton as a player before being part of the successful Porto team that won the UEFA Cup and Champions League under current Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
Costa, who had beaten Spurs as a player at The Valley, used the 4-3-3 formation Mourinho had success with at Stamford Bridge, yet it was the visitors who were the first to threaten.
Dimitar Berbatov took only six minutes to create his first chance, dancing around veteran playmaker Joao Pinto before deceiving Jorge in the penalty area and poking wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Much of the first-half action centred around Berbatov, the Bulgaria striker next to see an effort blocked by Rodriguez.
However, Berbatov was wasteful with his best sight of goal, dragging his one-on-one effort wide after Malbranque slid the ball through to him.
Later in the half, he forced goalkeeper Paulo Santos to save on his line after side-footing a Young-Pyo Lee cross on target, but the former Bayer Leverkusen striker also created Spurs' other chances.
He weighted a ball through to Teemu Tainio but the Finland midfielder had his effort saved and, 10 minutes before the break, he provided the pass for Keane, who saw his fierce near-post shot fly over the bar off Santos' forearm.
It was not all one-way traffic, though. Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson was required to parry Gama's long-range attempt early on, and Wender could not create anything with the rebound.
Castanheira had also tried his luck from the edge of the area, before Rodriguez's cross from the right found its way to the back post and Gama forced another save.
It was an unusually open first-leg clash but Aaron Lennon was not having much joy early on the left flank after being given an opportunity to run at his opposing full-back.
He did have a tame penalty appeal turned down in the 39th minute, with Luis Filipe accusing the England winger of going to ground too easily.
However, Lennon appeared to benefit from the half-time break and he created Keane's 57th-minute opener with an impish piece of skill.
He squeezed through Rodriguez and Andrade as they closed in then scooped the ball to Keane, who chested it before lashing in his volley over Santos.
Keane should have doubled the lead just after the hour mark with a free header that was off-target, but Malbranque did get Spurs' second with 18 minutes remaining.
Lennon was the provider again, although his tame shot should have been held by Santos before Malbranque forced in the rebound. Substitute Diego was fouled in the area by Anthony Gardner in the 75th minute, with Jorge scoring after Robinson had saved his spot-kick.
Ze Carlos levelled matter with nine minutes remaining, heading in for the hosts from a free-kick on the right to cancel out Spurs' earlier good work.
Keane grabbed a winner deep into injury-time when Zokora played him through and he finished past Santos.
posted by dgarden at 8:54 am
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