Tottenham Hotspur got the better of Shamrock Rovers in their Europa League Group A encounter on Thursday, but only after the League of Ireland side had taken a shock second-half lead at White Hart Lane.
Stephen Rice sent the huge traveling support into raptures when he deflected a Gary Twigg shot past Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini five minutes into the second half.
The goal had come completely against the run of play and the Premier League aristocrats were back level 10 minutes later when Roman Pavlyuchenko headed home from point-blank range.
Photo: Reuters
Within six minutes, Jermaine Defoe and Giovani Dos Santos had also netted to complete the turnaround as Spurs ran out 3-1 winners to go level with Rubin Kazan — who drew 2-2 with PAOK Salonika earlier in the day — on four points atop the group.
It was an excellent night all round for England’s representatives, with Stoke City coming from behind to beat Turkish giants Besiktas 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.
Peter Crouch canceled out Roberto Hilbert’s opener, before a late Jonathan Walters penalty handed Stoke their first win in Group E.
A 1-1 draw in the group’s other game between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Dynamo Kiev allowed Stoke to go top.
Fulham had gone eight games without a win in all competitions before traveling to Denmark to face Odense.
However, Andrew Johnson scored either side of halftime to secure a 2-0 win for the Cottagers, who move level on four points with Twente Enschede at the top of Group K.
The Dutch club came from behind to win 4-1 at home to Wisla Krakow, with giant Austrian striker Marc Janko scoring twice.
Meanwhile, Birmingham City came from a goal down to win 2-1 away to Maribor of Slovenia in Group H.
Next up for Birmingham are Club Brugge of Belgium, who won 2-1 away to Braga courtesy of Ryan Donk’s last-minute effort.
However, there was no such luck for Celtic, with Neil Lennon’s side being denied a first win in Group I by Udinese in a tale of two penalties.
The other match in a tricky Group I saw last year’s Europa League winners Atletico Madrid strike late to earn a 1-1 draw against Stade Rennais in France.
Elsewhere, Raul made his 150th European appearance, but was not among the scorers for Schalke 04 as the Bundesliga side beat Maccabi Haifa of Israel in Group J.
Paris Saint-Germain have been tipped as one of the favorites to win the competition, but they were beaten 2-0 away to Athletic Bilbao.
First-half goals from Igor Gabilondo and Markel Susaeta gave the Spanish side a second win in Group F, while Mohamed Sissoko was sent-off.
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