Spurs hold on in end-to-end clash

14 September 2010 22:30
Tottenham look set for a rollercoaster first season of Champions League football after surviving another topsy-turvy night to draw 2-2 at Werder Bremen. In what was almost a mirror image of their play-off round first leg at Young Boys, Spurs romped into a two-goal lead in Germany and could easily have been three or four up before half-time. But a suicidal four-minute spell either side of the restart turned their Group A clash on its head and they could have easily returned to London empty-handed. Bremen struggled to contain Tottenham's new talisman Gareth Bale and after two early warnings he made them pay in the 12th minute. Benoit Assou-Ekotto's brilliant ball released him down the left and his low cross was turned in by Petri Pasanen under pressure from Peter Crouch. It got better for the visitors in the 18th minute when Jermaine Jenas played a sensational volleyed pass to Rafael van der Vaart on the left and the new man produced a pinpoint cross for Crouch to power a header back across Tim Wiese and into the net. It was 2-1 just before the break when Hugo Almeida got between recalled Spurs captain Ledley King and Assou-Ekotto to nod in Wesley's superb inswinging cross. Incredibly, they did draw level two minutes after the restart. Carlo Cudicini had just tipped Aaron Hunt's shot over following a Younes Kaboul mistake when Marek Marin stuck a fierce low drive that skidded off the wet surface and past the goalkeeper at his near post. With just over three minutes remaining, Wilson Palacios played in Crouch for a glorious chance to win it but the England striker's clipped finish drifted wide.

Source: PA