England striker Jermaine Defoe helped himself to three clinically-struck goals and moved Tottenham Hotspur a step closer to the Europa League knockout stages with a 3-1 win over Maribor of Slovenia on Thursday.
With Group J leaders Lazio beating Panathanaikos 3-0 in Rome, Spurs are now two points clear of Maribor in the race for the second qualifying spot.
Defoe’s first came after just 22 minutes, knocking home a Gareth Bal;e cross at the near post, but Spurs appeared to have shot themselves in the foot with a dreadful defensive blunder five minutes bfore half-time.
Kyle Naughton hit a sloppy back pass and French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris failed to react as Robert Beric slipped in and knocked the ball home.
But Defoe was on on hand again four minutes after the break with a left foot effort after an incisive through ball from Thomas Carroll and cropped up again with a quarter-of-an-hour to go to slot home Bale’s low cross from the left.
It could have been a good deal worse for Maribor if Emmanuel Adebayor had taken any of the string of chances presented to him on a plate.