Wellington Phoenix 1-4 Brisbane Roar: Brisbane top A-League and end Phoenix's impressive home record

Photo: Phoenix's WestPac Stadium in Wellington is no longer impregnable [PlessPix]

Wellington Phoenix 1-4 Brisbane Roar

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Wellington Phoenix lost their 24-game unbeaten home record when they lost 4-1 to Brisbane Roar at the WestPac Stadium in Wellington this evening.

The win lifted Brisbane Roar to the top of the A-League ladder, a point ahead of Adelaide United.

Thirty-six-year-old Simon Elliott made his debut in the centre of midfield for Wellington. He has played 68 times for the All Whites and made a dozen English Premier League appearances for Fulham, but had little impact on this match.

Former Wellington player Kosta Barbarouses put Brisbane in front in the 4th minute after great play down the right by Ivan Franjic, who cut the ball across the box for Barbarouses to side-foot home from 12 metres.

Wellington hit back and went close twice, through Chris Greenacre in the 5th minute and Leo Bertos in the 8th.

In the 23rd minute, Barbarouses had another good chance but fired into the side-netting.

Ifill was proving a fast and tricky opponent and he took advantage of indecision by Brisbane defender Matt Smith and goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos to nip in and shoot just wide of the far post from a difficult angle in the 26th minute.

Wellington drew level in the 37th minute when a poor clearance by Brisbane enabled Tim Brown to volley home from the edge of the box.

But, Brisbane’s German import, Thomas Broich, gave the visitors a 2-1 lead at the interval when he got onto the end of a Barbarouses deflected cross from the right and scored with a deflected volley from the left of the box.

Barbarouses almost embarrassed Wellington keeper Mark Paston in the 51st minute with a long-range shot that slipped through the custodian’s hands, but the ball landed on the roof of the net.

Two minutes later, a great run down the left by Reinaldo left Manny Muscat in his wake and he cut a perfect ball back from inside the box, but Massimo Murdocca’s shot thumped against the base of the right-hand post and back into play.

Murdocca made it 3-1 in the 76th minute when substitute Jean Carlo Solorzano put him through down the inside-right channel with a perfectly weighted pass that left the Brisbane midfielder free and with an easy task to beat Paston.

Substitute Mitch Nichols added the fourth for Brisbane in the 2nd minute of stoppage time. A throw-in on the right put Broich clear and he squared the ball across the box for the unmarked Nichols to poke home.

Ifill was wide with a couple of chances near the end, but the home side were well beaten because of a combination of good attacking play by Brisbane and poor defending by the Phoenix.

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Wellington Phoenix: Paston - North, Sigmund, Durante, Muscat (Daniel 70) - Brown, Elliott, Lia (MacAllister 60) - Bertos, Greenacre (Ward 78), Ifill (Substitute not used: Vukovic)

Booked: North, Ifill

Goals: Brown 37

Brisbane Roar: Theoklitos - Franjic, DeVere, Smith, Susak (Mundy 90+4) - Murdocca, Paartalu, McKay - Barbarouses (Solorzano 74), Reinaldo (Nichols 78), Broich (Substitute not used: Redmayne)

Goals: Barbarouses 4, Broich 45, Murdocca 76, Nichols 90+2

Ref: P O’Leary

Spurs relive the glory days with win over Inter

Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Inter Milan

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This game reminded me of the great days at White Hart Lane in the 1960s, described so well by Hunter Davies in his excellent book, “The Glory Game”. This is a must-read for any youngster hoping to make it to the top of the professional game.

The fine wing play of the incomparable duo of Gareth Bale on the left and Aaron Lennon on the right was reminiscent of the wing play of John White in the Spurs side of the 1960s, a star who was so tragically killed at the height of his fame when struck by lightning during a game of golf.

Lennon is a character straight out of Star Trek. Indeed the hair style and the shaved eyebrows and side of the head make him look like the son of Spock. And he plays at warp speed too, turning opponents inside out before delivering teasing crosses for team-mates.

Bale, who could not get a game some months ago, is in scintillating form. His speed is phenomenal, his left peg lethal, and he has the ability to deliver inch-perfect crosses that leave defenders stranded and team-mates with simple tap-ins.

Bale single-handedly almost rescued Tottenham at the San Siro two weeks ago when his late hat-trick saw Spurs go down 4-3 to Inter. In this game, he gave experienced Brazilian internationals Lucio and Maicon a bath, setting up two goals in outstanding fashion.

Inter coach Rafa Benitez again showed his failings as a strategist. He had been forewarned in Milan two weeks ago of the threat presented by Bale and yet did nothing to counter it. He sat and watched as Bale tore the right flank of the Inter defence to pieces, and it was not until the 71st minute that he brought on Diego Milito, one of his side’s most dangerous attackers.

If Milito had partnered Samuel Eto’o from the start, who knows what might have happened. As it was, the lightning quick Eto’o scored a marvellous goal, while Milito clipped the crossbar with a great strike in the final minute. Benitez may have won two La Liga titles with Valencia and the European Champions League with Liverpool, but he continues to confound with some of his decisions.

Rafael Van Der Vaart opened the scoring for Spurs in the 18th minute. Bale fed Luka Modric in midfield and the diminutive Croatian outwitted the experienced Javier Zanetti before slipping the ball through and into the box for the Dutchman to beat the off-side trap and then Luca Castellazi at his near post from 12 metres.

It should have been 2-0 in the 25th minute when Bale outpaced Maicon on the left and crossed a perfect ball to the far post for Peter Crouch, who, instead of scoring, smacked the ball back across goal and out for a goal-kick.

Wesley Schneider was a potential threat throughout and, in the 43rd minute, he forced a fine save from Carlo Cudicini from a free-kick, awarded for Modric’s foul on Eto’o.

Spurs suffered a major blow when Van Der Vaart was replaced at the interval by Jermain Jenas.

But, the home side had the first chance of the second half when, in the 52nd minute, Bale’s overhead kick flew just wide.

Three minutes later, Crouch’s header from Alan Hutton’s right-wing cross was turned over the bar by the alert Castellazi.

It was 2-0 in the 61st minute when Bale gained possession in his own half and raced down the left yet again to leave Lucio and Maicon floundering and delivered an accurate ball into the middle for Crouch to tap home.

Ten minutes from the end, Eto’o showed his class when he cut in from the left and scored from the edge of the box with a low drive inside the far post.

Spurs beamed Lennon back to the bench in the 84th minute and replaced him with Palacios, but he did not have enough time to impose his influence on the game.

Bale repeated his party trick in the 89th minute when his low ball from the left gave Pavlyuchenko the easiest of goals to kill off Inter’s revival, sparked by the introduction of Milito, and make it 3-1.

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Tottenham Hotspur: Cudicini - Hutton, Gallas, Kaboul, Asson-Ekotto - Lennon (Palacios 84), Huddlestone, Modric, Bale - Van Der Vaart (Jenas 46) - Crouch (Pavlyuchenko 76) (Substitutes not used: Pletikosa, Bassong, Kranjcar, Keane)

Booked: Hutton, Jenas, Modric

Goals: Van Der Vaart 18, Crouch 61, Pavlyuchenko 89

Inter Milan: Castellazi - Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu - Muntari (Nwankwo 53), Zanetti - Biabiany (Coutinho 64), Schneider, Pandev (Milito 71) - Eto’o (Substitutes not used: Orlandoni, Cordoba, Materazzi, Santon, Obiora)

Booked: Samuel, Chivu, Lucio

Goals: Eto’o 80

Att: 36,310

Ref: V Kassai (Hungary)

UEFA Champions League results

Benfica 4-3 Lyon

Bursaspor 0-3 Manchester United

FC Copenhagen 1-1 Barcelona

Hapoel Tel Aviv 0-0 Schalke 04

Rubin Kazan 0-0 Panathinaikos

Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Inter Milan

Valencia 3-0 Rangers

Werder Bremen 0-2 FC Twente

Bayer Leverkusen doing quite well without Ballack

Photos: Michael Ballack is hardly missed by Bayer Leverkusen [PlessPix]

Schalke 04 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen

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Schalke 04, one of the most famous clubs in Germany, are having a terrible season and coach Felix Magath must be under intense pressure. After all, Schalke finished second last season to Bayern Munich but are currently in second-last place.

This 1-0 win away by Bayer Leverkusen before 61,673 at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen put the visitors into third place.

Schalke have now failed to win at home in five matches this season and have won only once against Leverkusen in their past 12 meetings.

The home side were solid in the opening half and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar almost put them ahead in the 22nd minute when he got onto the end of Jefferson Agustin Farfan’s right-wing cross, but his header came back off the crossbar.

Leverkusen should have taken the lead a minute later when Daniel Schwaab crossed into the box from the right, but Patrick Helmes missed the ball, which carried through to Vidal, who headed wide despite being unmarked.

In the 27th minute, Schalke’s signing from Kashima Antlers in Japan, Atsuto Uchida, tested keeper Rene Adler with a fierce strike from wide on the right, but Adler managed to get down and keep it out at his near post.

Huntelaar hit the post in the 47th minute to again let the visitors off the hook.

Leverkusen’s winner came in the 65th minute through substitute Sidney Sam. He was put through the middle by a precise pass from Lars Bender. Sam outpaced Christoph Metzelder, signed after a disappointing spell at Real Madrid, and fired past Manuel Neuer from 15 metres.

Farfan tested Adler in the 73rd minute with a powerful close-range shot from an acute angle on the right, but the Leverkusen custodian showed sharp reflexes to turn the ball over the bar.

Schalke have now earned a mere 2 points from a possible 15 at home this season.

Their striker, Raul, signed from Real Madrid in the summer, was scarcely seen and Magath will need to devise a better system to utilise the talents of Madrid’s greatest-ever scorer.

As for Leverkusen, they have a superb away record this season and hardly missed injured German international Michael Ballack, signed from Chelsea.

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Schalke 04: Neuer - Uchida, Schmitz [(Matip 46) Gavranovic 86], Metzelder, Howeder - Farfan, Klug (Edu 72), Rakitic, Jurado - Huntelaar, Raul [Substitutes not used: Schober, Papadopoulos, Deac, Moritz]

Booked: Metzelder 77

Bayer Leverkusen: Adler - Kadlec, Reinartz, Friedrich, Schwaab - Balitsch, Bender, Vidal, Barnetta (Sam 46) - Derdujok, Helmes (Rolfes 64) [Substitutes not used: Fernandez, Kaplan, Jorgensen]

Goals: Sam 65

Att: 61,673

Ref: Dr F Brych

Advice to players in 1971

Referees are essential to the game of football.

If there’s no referee, there’s no game.

In another one of the regular flashbacks to the past, above is a page from the publication “Soccer Forum” from March 1971.

The author of this tongue-in-cheek piece of advice for players in regard to their attitude towards referees is unknown.