Inter thump hapless Bremen

Inter thumped hapless Werder Bremen 4-0 in Champions League Group A at the San Siro yesterday.

Samuel Eto’o scored a brilliant hat-trick, taking his tally to 11 goals in nine games this season, and Wesley Sneijder added the fourth as the Germans’ defence offered their hosts a plethora of gifts.

Holders Inter now top the group with four points, while for the porous visitors it was the third time in 10 games this season they had conceded four goals.

Bremen should have been in front on 20 minutes but Almeida somehow failed to make contact with Tim Borowski’s cross with the goal gaping. The visitors were made to pay in spectacular fashion.

Daniel Jensen was caught by Esteban Cambiasso, whose prod sent Eto’o in on goal and he slipped the ball under the Bremen keeper on 21 minutes.

Eto’o got his second after Bremen failed to deal with a lofted pass from Lucio, the Cameroonian taking a touch as the visiting defenders ball-watched and finishing with aplomb.

Inter were rampant and on 34 minutes it was all over as a defence-splitting pass from Eto’o sent Sniejder in to fire into the top corner.

Eto’o completed his hat-trick on 81 minutes as he outstripped Werder’s defence to latch onto Sneijder’s through-ball and slot into the empty net.

Also from Group A, Tottenham beat Twente 4-1 to record their first Champions League group victory on an extraordinary night at White Hart Lane, which saw them awarded three penalties and have a man sent off.

Rafael van der Vaart saw the first spot-kick saved and the Dutchman was then sent off.

Roman Pavlyuchenko converted the other two however, with the excellent Gareth Bale wrapping up victory with a late fourth.

In Spain, Manchester United new-boy Javier Hernandez chose the perfect time to net his first competitive goal for the Red Devils as his 85th-minute winner proved too much for Valencia.

Although United rarely looked like breaking their sequence of three successive goalless draws in Spain, Alex Ferguson will not care too much about that.

The mere fact Hernandez’s goal, drilled expertly into the far corner, proved United with only their second victory in 19 attempts against Spanish opposition in Spanish soil tells you just how hard it is.

Instead of having ground to make up in the battle to reach the knock-out phase, United can now look forward to back-to-back clashes with Group C makeweights Bursaspor knowing six points will virtually secure their place in the last 16.

At Ibrox, Steven Naismith grabbed the winner as Rangers’ long wait for a win on the European stage came to an end with a 1-0 victory over Bursaspor.

Walter Smith’s men had failed to register a win in European action since they beat Fiorentina en route to the 2008 UEFA Cup final.

But they went some way to exorcising those demons by claiming three points against the Turkish champions to add to the draw they earned against Manchester United at Old Trafford in their Group C opener.

The breakthrough came after 18 minutes when Steven Whittaker’s cross from the right was collected by Naismith, who sidefooted home from six yards.

Messi back

Barcelona welcomed Lionel Messi back from injury but were held to a 1-1 draw at Rubin Kazan in their Group D encounter yesterday.

The Spanish champions quickly assumed control of the match and Pedro Rodriguez dinked a shot against the crossbar in the 12th minute following a slide-rule pass from David Villa.

Rubin stunned the Catalans by beating them 2-1 at Camp Nou in the competition’s group phase last season and on the half hour they won a penalty following a foul by Dani Alves on Vitali Kaleshin.

Captain Christian Noboa blasted home from the spot, but Barca drew level with a spot-kick of their own in the 60th minute; David Villa converting after Lasha Salukvadze clumsily felled Andres Iniesta.

Barca introduced Messi from the bench soon after, 10 days on from the ankle injury he sustained against Atletico Madrid, but he was denied by Rubin goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov in his only clear goalscoring chance.

Summaries

Inter 4
Eto’o 22, 27, 81; Sneijder 34;
W. Bremen 0

Tottenham 4
Van der Vaart 47; Pavlyuchenko 50 pen; Pavlyucunko 64 pen; Bale 85;
Twente 1
Chadli 56;

Missed penalty: Van der Vaart 41;
Red card: Van der Vaart 61;

Hapoel TV 1
Enyeama 79 pen;
Lyon 3
Bastos 8 pen, 36; Pjanic 90;

Schalke 2
Farfan 73; Huntelaar 85;
Benfica 0

Valencia 0
Man. United 1
Hernandez 85;

Rangers 1
Naismith 18;
Bursaspor 0

Panathinaikos 0
Copenhagen 2
N’Doye 28; Vingaard 37;

Red card: Gilberto Silva (P) 49;

R. Kazan 1
Noboa 30 pen;
Barcelona 1
Villa 60 pen;