Inter Milan v Tottenham Hotspur Match report

Inter Tottenham match report

Inter got off to an astonishing start against Tottenham on Wednesday Night in a Group A Champions League tie at the San Siro.

Zanetti got the hosts off to a flyer within 68 seconds after a brilliant flowing move from Samuel Eto’o put the left back through on goal who then slotted it past Tottenham goalkeeper Gomes.

Things got from bad to worse for the London side, who then saw Gomes sent off for a clumsy challenge on Maicon in the box. On came reserve keeper Carlo Cudicini and off came Luka Modric as Eto’o stood up to take the penalty and smashed it in the top left.

With Spurs down to ten men and already two goals down, Inter went further ahead after just 14 minutes, keeping tight possession of the ball until Dejan Stankovic, found space for a through ball and go on to score a third inside the first quarter of an hour.

However after conceding three Spurs seemed to find their feet a little bit as they began to find their rhythm, with lone striker Peter Crouch missing an excellent headed chance inside the 6 – yard box after Lennon whipped in a cross from the right. Gareth Bale on the left also gave the London outfit a much needed attacking mentality looking every bit as World Class as his opponents down the left wing.

It wasn’t meant to be a night for Spurs however as Coutinho found the ball in midfield and out classed the Spurs midfield and defence before putting Eto’o through on goal who poked the ball past Cudicini into the back of the net.

Trailing 4-0 to the Italians at half time then and a shellshocked Spurs looked down beat and trodden as they walked into the dressing room to a furious Harry Redknapp without a doubt.

After half time Spurs came out a different team with Gareth Bale leading the charge down the left wing from inside his own half all the way to the oppositions box before smashing low driving shot into past Cesar and into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Tottenham behind then 4-1 and looking confident after Bale’s goal and Cudicini finally looked settled in after David Santon for Inter found the ball in midfield and cut inside from the left, past Alan Hutton a took a low driving shot only for Cudicini to deflect it out for a corner.

Things started to look brighter for Spurs still when Peter Crouch flicked on a header for Gareth Bale who controlled the ball with a nice bit of skill only to cut it back to Benoit Assou-Ekotto who blasted the ball way over the Inter goal.

A wasted opportunity for Spurs but they were soon on the attack again with Jenas running down the left wing only to be stopped abruptly by the Inter defence who cleared the ball out of danger.

Tottenham continued to create problems down the left as Bale surged forward with ball only to be taken down by Eto’o, who soon got the ball back up field to Coutinho who shot just outside the Spurs box only to see his effort go just wide past the far post.

After 65 minutes Harry Redknapp decided to change things, taken Crouch off for Robbie Keane, his first appearance this season but the Irishman failed to make an impact against the likes of the superstars at the San Siro.

Rafa Benitez also made a change, taking Chivu off for the attacker Goran Pandev only for it to back fire as Gareth Bale down the left yet again smashed in another brilliant goal after another surging run to score his second. Then seconds later Bale powered in his third for his hat-trick, beating Cesar for the third time in the dying seconds of the game in the bottom right hand corner.

Three goals all practically the same and Inter were forced to hang on as Spurs put in a brilliant second half performance.

You perhaps have to think, had Tottenham had all eleven men on the pitch, whether Inter would have dominated as they did. At the end of the 90 minutes however, Inter Milan lead Group A with Tottenham Hotspur in second place, thanks to a 1-1 draw in Holland.

An Incredible match and an incredible performance from perhaps the best left winger in the World at the minute.