Bent seals win but Spurs far from comfortable

Uefa Cup round-up : Uefa Cup round-up: Darren Bent lifted the gloom around White Hart Lane with the winner in a 2-1 triumph …

Uefa Cup round-up: Uefa Cup round-up: Darren Bent lifted the gloom around White Hart Lane with the winner in a 2-1 triumph at White Hart Lane but Wisla Krakow will take an away goal into the second leg of the Uefa Cup first round clash.

Bent headed home with 17 minutes remaining, the striker's third in as many matches, to earn Spurs their first victory during a frustrating start to the campaign.

Even that only slightly dampened the spirits of the boisterous away support, whose side lost to Barcelona to get knocked out of the Champions League but now require a 1-0 win in a fortnight to reach the group stages of Europe's second-tier competition.

Wisla's fans were silenced for just a minute during the first half after David Bentley's opener, then Tomas Jirsak levelled to open up the tie.

READ MORE

Spurs head coach Juande Ramos will again be without Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka for that clash as the two new signings are cup-tied, highlighting Spurs' recruitment problems before the transfer deadline.

Everton twice had to fight back to grab a draw in a vibrant 2-2 tie against Standard Liege. Liege, who will now fancy their chances of dumping the Merseysiders out of the competition, were ahead early on when Dieumerci Mbokani netted close in after Everton were exposed on the right.

Ayegbeni Yakubu equalised before Joseph Yobo's own goal put the Belgians ahead again, only for Segundo Castillo to equalise with a fine 25-yarder.

Brazilian striker Jo steered Manchester City towards the group stages with his first goals for the club as City won 2-1. The 21-year-old, a €23 million summer signing for CSKA Moscow, helped turned the first round first leg match in Cyprus on its head.

He scored in the 59th and 72nd minutes after Klodian Duro had made the breakthrough for Omonia.

City were rocked after outplaying their opponents in the first half but then launched a spirited fightback.

They will now approach the second leg in a fortnight with confidence, although the margin of victory could have been greater with Jo, in particular, wasteful before his two goals.

Portsmouth's maiden adventure into Europe stalled and then started on the right foot of Jermain Defoe as they claimed a 2-0 victory against Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes tonight.

Midfield dynamo Lassana Diarra put Portsmouth on their way with a rifling finish after 39 minutes. Then Defoe, who scored twice against Middlesbrough last Saturday, took centre stage.

He was tripped in the area three minutes after the break but saw Vitoria goalkeeper Nilson plunge left to keep out his penalty shot.

But missed opportunities have never fazed England marksman Defoe and he came up with a potentially crucial strike on the hour.

Graeme Smith kept Motherwell's hopes alive with a brilliant penalty save to restrict a dominant Nancy to a 1-0 lead after tonight's first round, first leg.

Smith pushed away Issiar Dia's spot-kick as he made a string of crucial second-half stops.

Motherwell played most of the first period in their own half and Nancy eventually made their possession tell when Pascal Berenguer headed home three minutes before the break.