Gareth Bale’s hot trick is not enough for Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United can get rid of unhappy and out-of-form Wayne Rooney now and feel confident that there is a player who can instantly take his place.
Gareth Bale, a 21-year-old international winger from Wales, scored a stunning hat trick in Italy on Wednesday in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-3 loss to defending champion Inter Milan in the European Champions League.
The Spurs trailed by four goals at halftime before the Bale show began.
Bale is not Rooney, but he could easily be the next coming of Ryan Giggs, the top Welsh player of his generation and a Manchester United fixture for the last two decades.
Powerful, with good pace and a searing shot, Bale would be a perfect fit on the United left flank. Of course, Tottenham would have to agree to sell him first, but dangling Rooney in front of Spurs Coach Harry Redknapp might be more than Redknapp could resist.
Of course, Tottenham does not have the financial resources of, say, Chelsea or Manchester City, but throwing Bale into the deal could make it happen.
Redknapp, however, is adamant that Bale will not be leaving White Hart Lane anytime soon.
“There is no way the club will contemplate selling him,” he said. “If we sold Gareth Bale now it would send out the wrong signals.”
The Spurs were torn asunder in the first half, falling three goals behind in the first 14 minutes and were unable to cope with the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto’o and Brazilian teenager Coutinho.
Argentine veteran Javier Zanetti scored in the second minute. Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was red-carded in the eighth minute. Eto’o scored in the 11th minute on the resulting penalty kick. Dejan Stankovic scored in the 14th minute. Eto’o scored again in the 35th minute.
“It was our worst nightmare,” Redknapp said. “Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.”
Then the second half arrived and Bale took over.
“I think everyone enjoyed the first half except for the Spurs players and supporters,” Coach Rafael Benitez said. “After the first Tottenham goal, I was a little bit disappointed. After the second Tottenham goal, I was a little bit disappointed. After the third Tottenham goal, I was fed up.”
Meanwhile, even without Rooney in the lineup because of a bad ankle, Manchester United had enough quality Wednesday night to defeat Bursaspor of Turkey, 1-0, at Old Trafford on a seventh-minute goal by Portugal’s Nani.
The victory moved United two points clear at the top of its group as it closes in on clinching a place in the tournament’s 16-team knockout phase.
The game was Alex Ferguson’s 2,000th as a coach and Nani’s sizzling 25-yard shot off the left foot after he had evaded a couple of would-be defenders was a fitting tribute. The three points gained were even more important.
United’s closest pursuer is Rangers, and the Glasgow club had American midfielder Maurice Edu to thank for earning it a point and to blame for costing it two points.
Edu managed to score on a header for the Scottish team in its 1-1 tie but netted an own goal to enable Spanish league leader Valencia to gain a share of the points.
“The first goal, I didn’t have time to celebrate because I took a knock on the head and was laid on the ground for a while,” Edu told Britain’s Sky Sports 4. “The own goal, I saw it late and the next thing I know it hit me and it was in.”
Barcelona, champion in 2009, beat FC Copenhagen, 2-0, with reigning world player of the year Lionel Messi providing both goals in Barcelona.
The Argentine struck first in the 19th minute when he hammered a powerful shot home from distance. Barcelona controlled the game but could not add to its lead until Messi knocked in a second goal from close range in injury time.
Former Real Madrid and Spanish national team striker Raul scored twice for his new club, Schalke ‘04, as the German team rolled over Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 3-1, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
The twin strikes brought Raul’s Champions League-record haul of goals to 70. Another Spaniard, Jose Manuel Jurado, scored Schalke’s third goal as the team stayed in contention for a place in the knockout round.
In other Champions League games Wednesday, Olympique Lyon beat Benfica of Portugal, 2-0, in France on goals by Jimmy Briand and Lisandro to maintain its status as one of only five unbeaten and untied clubs in the 32-team tournament.
Twente Enschede of the Netherlands was held to a 1-1 tie at home by Germany’s Werder Bremen, with Theo Janssen giving the Dutch team the lead before former Twente player Marko Arnautovic tied it 10 minutes from the end.
Panathinaikos of Greece could manage no better than a 0-0 tie in Athens against Rubin Kazan of Russia.
Champions League plays resumes Nov. 2.
