A Werder Bremen fightback denied Tottenham victory on their debut in the Champions League group stage.
Tottenham let 2-0 lead slip but hang on for a draw
Werder Bremen fought back from 2-0 down to deny Tottenham victory on their debut in the Champions League group stage.
Spurs made a commanding start in Germany as they took a deserved lead through a 12th-minute own goal by Petri Pasanen, although Peter Crouch was set to tap in Gareth Bale's cut-back regardless.
Crouch then sent Spurs into dreamland six minutes later as he headed home from a sublime cross by star signing Rafael van der Vaart, deployed behind lone striker Crouch.
A fine first-half performance was tarnished by a soft goal for Hugo Almeida to pull one back for Werder just two minutes before the break.
And Harry Redknapp's men would rue that lapse as just two minutes after the restart, Marko Marin equalised with an unstoppable 20-yard strike past Carlo Cudicini.
Tottenham would have taken a point before their much-anticipated return to European football's top table but such was their dominance in the first half that they may now view it as two points dropped.
Back in the big time
Although Spurs were the first English club to win a European trophy when they lifted the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup, their only previous appearance in Europe's top competition was when they reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1961/62.
Redknapp has vowed to be more cautious away in Europe after they went 3-0 down inside 30 minutes in their play-off first leg against Young Boys.
Spurs ultimately recovered to claim a 6-3 aggregate win to secure their place in the lucrative group stage and it was almost a mirror image of that woeful start in Bern.
Redknapp stuck with the 4-5-1 formation he experimented with in Saturday's 1-1 draw at West Brom and ran riot against a side that was far from being Champions League rookies as Werder had a five-year run in the competition before missing out last season.
Tom Huddlestone and surprise starter Jermaine Jenas had early long-range efforts while Bale began to give Clemens Fritz a torrid time down the Spurs left before laying on the opener.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto's long ball released Bale in the 12th minute and the Wales international's low cross was turned in by Pasanen under pressure from Crouch.
Marko Arnautovic glanced a tough header wide as Bremen tried to respond but it got better for the visitors in the 18th minute.
Jenas played a sensational volleyed pass to Van der Vaart on the left and the Holland international produced a pinpoint cross for Crouch to power a header back across Tim Wiese and into the net.
The home side were living dangerously and the outstanding Bale almost made it 3-0 when he robbed Fritz only to be denied by Wiese.
Bale saw another effort beaten away by Wiese nine minutes before the break as Bremen's injury-hit defence continued to buckle.
Costly error
Spurs then let the hosts back into the game as left-back Assou-Ekotto sliced a simple clearance out for a throw on the opposite flank. The throw found Wesley and his inswinging cross found Almeida, who got in between Ledley King and Assou-Ekotto to glance a header inside the far post.
Yet Redknapp was unable to shore things up at the break as Cudicini tipped Hunt's shot over following a Younes Kaboul mistake before Marin fired in a low drive to level things up.
Van der Vaart had picked up a minor calf problem and was immediately replaced by striker Robbie Keane but the hosts continued to press forward.
Almeida volleyed over after holding off Kaboul before Marin cut in from the left and fire a low shot narrowly wide.
Hunt missed a glorious chance to complete Bremen's comeback 17 minutes from time but Bale whipped in a devilish low cross that was deflected behind Jenas and Crouch.
Spurs missed their best chance of a winner as substitute Wilson Palacios played in Crouch, only for the England striker to lift the ball over Wiese and beyond the far post, while Cudicini blocked a Hunt shot as Spurs held on for a deserved point.
| SV Werder Bremen |
Team Statistics |
Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 11 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 8 |
Corners |
5 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.2 |
Passing Success |
77.6 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
17 |
| 68.4 |
Tackles Success |
70.6 |
| 50.5 |
Possession |
49.5 |
| 56.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
43.8 |
|
