Spurs into Uefa Cup group stage
English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur made their way into the group stage of the Uefa Cup after a 2-0 aggregate win over Czech Republic side Slavia Prague.
Spurs earned their second 1-0 victory over Slavia on Thursday after defeating them by the same scoreline a fortnight ago in Prague.
The return leg at White Hart Lane in London was a lackluster affair, with Spurs striker Robbie Keane making sure of victory over the two legs with an 80th minute goal.
“Keane is an experienced player,” Tottenham manager Martin Jol said.
“He is a gifted player. We were waiting on him and (Ahmed) Mido, so I’m pleased he scored. If you score one or two goals and you can do what you like and everybody would say we were the stronger team. Possibly we were, but they made us nervous.
“If we hadn’t gone through it would have been a disaster,” Jol added.
Karel Jarolim, Slavia manager, was pleased with his side’s efforts, even though he felt they had chances of there own to make the tie more interesting.
“Our aim at the beginning of the game was not to concede for as long as possible, to make them anxious,” Jarolim said.
“In the second half, we played more actively and had several chances – not 100 per cent chances, but we had some shots that went close and if we could have taken the lead that would have made game very dramatic.”
In other matches, West Ham United’s foray into Europe was short lived as they were bundled out by Italian side Palermo with a 4-0 aggregate scoreline.
Following on from their 1-0 win at Upton Park, the Sicilian team put three goals past a worryingly out of form West Ham outfit in the return leg with midfielder Fabio Simplicio bagging a double and striker David Di Michele finishing the Hammers off.
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Obafemi Martins scores against |
Newcastle United booked their place in the next round with a 2-1 win over Estonian side Levadia Tallinn at St James’ Park, giving them a 3-1 result overall.
Two goals from new signing Obafemi Martins shortly after halftime were enough for Newcastle to advance, even with Indrek Zelinski’s 65th minute strike for the visitors.
Fellow Premier League outfit Blackburn Rovers also progressed after a comfortable 2-0 win over Austrian league leaders SV Salzburg at Ewood Park, resulting in a 4-2 aggregate result.
Goals to Benni McCarthy in the first half and David Bentley in the second half secured Blackburn’s spot in the next phase after a 2-2 draw in Austria.
The draw for the Uefa Cup group stage takes place in Nyon, Switzerland, on October 3.