December 08, 2007	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 27, 1428

LONDON, Dec 7: Tottenham, Bordeaux, Bayer Leverkusen, Spartak Moscow and FC Zurich secured places in the next round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday. Tottenham drew 1-1 at Anderlecht to make sure they will be one of the three qualifiers from Group G, while Bordeaux beat already qualified Helsingborg 2-1 to advance from Group H.

Group E was settled, aside from the final placings, in favour of Spartak Moscow, Leverkusen and Zurich, raising the number of qualified teams to 12 of 24.

Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 at Sparta Prague despite the 60th-minute sending off of Carsten Ramelow for violent conduct, and Spartak Moscow beat visiting Zurich 1-0.

Tottenham needed a second-half penalty by Dimitar Berbatov to draw at Anderlecht – a result that also kept the Belgian champions in the hunt to advance.

Tottenham needed only a draw from a match played in constant driving rain before 24,000 fans at Vanden Stock Stadium, so coach Juande Ramos kept Berbatov on the bench until the 59th minute, when he replaced Robbie Keane.

Anderlecht went ahead in the 68th when the Tottenham defence showed the weakness that has led to the club’s worst start to an English league season for 29 years.

Cyril Thereau found space on the right and crossed into the centre, where two Spurs defenders failed to clear and Bart Goor drove the ball past goal-keeper Paul Robinson.

But Anderlecht was caught off guard moments later and, when Jermaine Jenas broke through the centre, defender Jelle Van Damme brought him down from behind. After furious protests, Berbatov coolly sent goal-keeper Daniel Zitka the wrong way while chipping the ball in the opposing corner.

Five minutes from the end, Zitka needed to save a shot from substitute Jermain Defoe to safeguard the draw.

While Spurs are finished with seven points from their four matches, Anderlecht will play their final, decisive game on Dec 19 at Getafe, who won 2-1 at Aalborg through goals by Pablo Hernandez and Esteban Granero.

Veteran forward Henrik Larsson scored an equaliser for Helsingborg after Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh had given Bordeaux a 12th-minute lead.

But the French team won through a 69th-minute goal by Jussie, off a defence-splitting pass by substitute Alejandro Alonso.

Results:

Group E

Bayer Leverkusen 1 Sparta Prague 0

Spartak Moscow1 FC Zurich 0

Group F

Aris Salonika 1 Braga 1

Red Star Belgrade 0 Bolton Wanderers 1

Group G

AaB Aalborg 1 Getafe 2

Anderlecht 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Group H

Austria Vienna 0 Panionios 1

Girondins Bordeaux 2 Helsingborg 1

—Agencies