Dutch drama in a historic night at White Hart Lane
Five goals, three penalties and a sending off
Published: 30 September, 2010
by DAN CARRIER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Spurs 4, FC Twente 1
SPURS overcame the dismissal of Rafael Van der Vaart to secure a 4-1 victory against FC Twente last night (Wednesday) in their first-ever Champions League game at White Hart Lane.
Van der Vaart pulled the strings for the home side and recovered from the disappointment of a first-half penalty miss to score the opening goal minutes into the second half.
But the midfielder left his team-mates with plenty of work to do when he was shown a second yellow card on the hour mark for a reckless challenge on Roberto Rosales.
Speaking after the match Van der Vaart told the New Journal he felt his dismissal was harsh, but went on to say how pleased he was to watch his new team-mates finish worthy winners.
“It was great to win the game – we were playing the champions of Holland,” he said. “It puts us in a strong position but we still have to play Inter Milan twice. We have to win our home games and see what happens.”
Van der Vaart helped brighten up a miserably wet night in north London with a stunning opening goal. Latching on to Peter Crouch’s knock-down, he controlled the ball on his chest before placing a volley into the far corner.
Two well-taken penalties from Roman Pavlyuchenko all but wrapped up the win before Gareth Bale capitalised on a defensive mistake late on to add the finishing touches to a memorable night. The result leaves Spurs second in Group A ahead of back-to-back games against Inter Milan.