Inter hold off Spurs rally as United edge past Bursaspor

Spurs looked set to be humiliated when holders Inter raced to a 3-0 lead inside 14 minutes. Javier Zanetti netted first, finishing a neat move, before Heurelho Gomes was sent off for felling Jonathan Biabiany. Samuel Eto'o converted the penalty before Dejan Stankovic added a third.

Eto'o grabbed another on 35 minutes, squeezing his shot under substitute goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, and that is the way it stayed before Bale's incredible treble. His opening two goals were almost identical, as he beat Zanetti and finished coolly, but after he notched his third, Spurs ran out of time to claim an unlikely leveller.

FC Twente and Werder Bremen remain winless in the same group after sharing the spoils 1-1 in a keenly contested encounter.

Theo Janssen opened the scoring for the hosts after 75 minutes but substitute Marko Arnautovic popped up with the equaliser for Bremen just five minutes later. The stalemate leaves both sides on two points after picking up two draws and a defeat from each of their opening three games.

Manchester United put the Wayne Rooney issue to one side to record a crucial 1-0 victory over Bursaspor at Old Trafford.

Their performance was nothing special once Nani had netted the sixth-minute goal that earned three points. Neither did it do much to dispel Rooney's claim his club now lack ambition, a few late chants of "We want the Glazers out'' showed there was some resonance with amongst the Old Trafford faithful. But after a traumatic view days, in which United's world has been turned upside down by their star striker, the result was all-important.

Maurice Edu had the dubious honour of scoring for both clubs as Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw by Valencia in the Champions League.

The Ibrox side would probably have settled for a point ahead of this meeting with the Spanish League high-fliers before the United States international handed them a first half lead. But a dream night turned into a nightmare for Edu when he inadvertently headed into his own net just a minute into the second half.

Lionel Messi struck two hugely contrasting goals as Barcelona climbed to the top of Group D after squeezing past FC Copenhagen 2-0 at the Nou Camp.

Messi broke the deadlock with a thunderous effort in the 19th minute to cap a fine opening from Barca, but the hosts struggled to finish off their in-form opponents and survived a number of second-half scares before the Argentinian ace tapped home from close range in stoppage time to secure the points.

There were no goals in a drab 0-0 encounter between Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan in Athens. Panathinaikos claimed their first point in the tournament and Rubin Kazan doubled their total after drawing with Barcelona, but neither will have much cause to remember the 90 minutes.

Lyon made it three wins from three Champions League Group B matches with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to 10-man Benfica.

Goals in either half from Jimmy Briand and Lisandro Lopez were enough to see off the Portuguese, for whom Nicolas Gaitan was dismissed before half-time. The win strengthens the French outfit's grip on top spot in the group with Schalke three points behind them in second.

Raul grabbed a brace to set Schalke en route to a 3-1 victory as they dominated Hapoel Tel Aviv. A further strike from Jose Manuel Jurado ensured Schalke go second in Group B, although there was still time for Itay Shechter to grab a late consolation for the visitors.

Source: espnsoccernet.com