Tottenham, Bordeaux, Bayer Leverkusen, Spartak Moscow and FC Zurich secured places in the next round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday.
Tottenham drew 1-1 at Anderlecht to make sure they will be one of the three qualifiers from Group G, while Bordeaux beat already qualified Helsingborg 2-1 to advance from Group H.
Group E was settled, aside from the final placings, in favor of Spartak Moscow, Leverkusen and Zurich, raising the number of qualified teams to 12 of 24.
PHOTO: AFP
Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 at Sparta Prague despite the 60th-minute sending off of Carsten Ramelow for violent conduct and Spartak Moscow beat visiting FC Zurich 1-0.
Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Anderlecht in 1984 to win their second and most recent UEFA Cup title, needed a second-half penalty by Dimitar Berbatov to draw at Anderlecht -- a result that also kept the Belgian champions in the hunt to advance.
Tottenham needed only a draw from a match played in constant driving rain before 24,000 fans at Vanden Stock Stadium, so coach Juande Ramos kept Berbatov on the bench until the 59th minute, when he replaced Robbie Keane.
"Berbatov made the difference," Anderlecht coach Ariel Jacobs said. "What a world class player."
Anderlecht went ahead in the 68th minute when the Tottenham defense showed the weakness that has led to the club's worst start to an English league season for 29 years.
Cyril Thereau found space on the right and crossed into the center, where two Spurs defenders failed to clear and Bart Goor drove the ball past goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
But Anderlecht were caught off guard moments later and, when Jermaine Jenas broke through the center, defender Jelle Van Damme brought him down from behind. After furious protests, Berbatov coolly sent keeper Daniel Zitka the wrong way while chipping the ball in the opposing corner.
Five minutes from the end, Zitka needed to save a shot from substitute Jermain Defoe to safeguard the draw.
While Spurs are finished with seven points from their four matches, Anderlecht will play their final, decisive game on Dec. 19 at Getafe, who won 2-1 at Aalborg through goals by Pablo Hernandez and Esteban Granero.
Getafe have six points and Anderlecht five, so each has the chance to top the group and thus avoid being drawn against one of the teams that enters the competition in the next round after being eliminated from the more illustrious Champions League.
Aalborg are out of contention with one point, but Hapoel Tel-Aviv have three and could yet make it.
Veteran forward Henrik Larsson, who is mulling retirement before the next round, scored an equalizer for Helsingborg after Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh had given Bordeaux a 12th-minute lead.
But the French team, who reached the final in 1996, won through a 69th-minute goal by Jussie, off a defense-splitting pass by substitute Alejandro Alonso.
Bordeaux have nine points, two more than Helsingborg and five more than Panionios, who won 1-0 at FK Austria Magna through a goal by Daniel Majstorovic in injury time.
Yegor Titov scored 12 minutes into the second half off a cross by Nikita Bazhenov for Spartak Moscow's win over FC Zurich, a result that sent both teams through to the next round, because Bayer Leverkusen's win over Sparta Prague meant the Czech team could no longer catch the Group E top three.
Leverkusen's Ramelow was sent off when he reacted to a tackle by pushing Jan Rezek to the ground, but Manuel Friedrich headed in a corner by Tranquillo Barnetta 11 minutes later.
Bolton Wanderers beat Red Star Belgrade 1-0 with a 45th-minute goal by Gavin McCann -- a fierce shot from the edge of the penalty area -- and top Group F, but are still not sure of advancing.
Bolton, who have played all of their group games, will qualify unless Aris draw with Bayern Munich and Braga beat Red Star in the final round of matches.
Red Star's third straight UEFA Cup loss means the Serbian champions have no chance of qualifying.
Before the match, Bolton protested the detention of hundreds of fans in their Belgrade hotel. The Serbian police banned them from visiting the city center and held them for hours because they feared clashes with notorious Red Star fans.
"[The club] shares the anger and discontent felt by our supporters detained temporarily ... without reasonable explanation," Bolton said in a statement.
The police move came after riots last weekend during a league match at Red Star's stadium, when the Belgrade fans attacked a plainclothes policeman trying to film them in the stands.
The policeman was forced to shoot into the air and sustained serious injuries. Several fans were arrested, including one man who was charged with attempted manslaughter.
Aris Salonica drew 1-1 with visiting Braga, so that, with Panionios winning, Greece could still have four teams in the next round.
Former European Cup finalists Panathinaikos were among the teams to have already qualified, while AEK Athens won on Wednesday.
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