Tottenham 3-1 NK Maribor

Jermain Defoe scored a hat-trick as
Tottenham defeated Maribor 3-1 to
move into second place in Europa
League Group J.
Defoe's opening goal was cancelled
out by an equaliser from the Slovenian
side as Kyle Naughton and Hugo Lloris
got in a tangle before the England
striker struck twice more in the second
half.
Spurs began in impressive fashion,
with Gareth Bale causing problems
down the left flank from the outset.
The Wales international struggled to
find a telling cross until midway
through the opening half though,
when he picked out Defoe for the
opening goal.
Bale whipped the ball into the area
and Defoe opened up his body to
direct a side-footed volley past Maribor
keeper Jasmin Handanovic and into
the corner of the net (22).
Emmanuel Adebayor tried to extend
the lead but he could only direct a
weak header straight at Handanovic as
Andre Villas-Boas' side failed to turn
possession into goalscoring
opportunities.
Instead it was Maribor who grew in
confidence as the half progressed, with
Goran Cvijanovic nodding over after
Tottenham goalkeeper Lloris could
only palm a low cross from Marcos
Tavares in his direction.
If that was a warning then Spurs failed
to heed it and their Slovenian
opponents were level five minutes
from half-time in farcical
circumstances.
Naughton played an inadvisable back-
pass to Lloris and as the Frenchman
tried to clear, Robert Beric intercepted
and slotted the ball into an empty net.
But Tottenham regrouped at the break
and regained the lead four minutes
after the restart, Defoe on target again
as he latched onto a first-time ball
through from Tom Carroll to fire a low
shot into the bottom corner of the
goal.
That moved the England international
onto 14 goals in European club
competition for Spurs to move him into
second place behind Martin Peters in
the club's list of highest scorers.
Adebayor almost added another but
he volleyed wide as he failed to
properly control a ball from Bale, with
Maribor defender Arghus Soares then
lucky to stay on the field after
appearing to foul Defoe just outside
the area.
Handanovic made a smart save to deny
Adebayor as Spurs dominated but he
could do nothing to prevent Defoe
securing his treble, a flowing move
ending with the striker getting ahead of
his marker to slot home another
pinpoint Bale cross on 77 as the home
side wrapped up the win.