spurs secured top spot in group a despite their hosts pulling level three times in an entertaining game in enschede.
fc tottenham hotspur clinched top spot in uefa champions league group a after a thrilling 3-3 draw with fc twente.
peter wisgerhof put through his own goal after 12 minutes, but denny landzaat brought twente back into the match from the penalty spot. jermain defoe restored his side's advantage two minutes into the second half, but roberto rosales levelled. defoe struck again just before the hour mark, but twente equalised for a third time through a fine free-kick from nacer chadli.
the home side threatened first, heurelho gomes having to fully extend himself to palm a long-range wout brama shot round the post minutes into the match. yet it was the london outfit who broke the deadlock in cruel fashion. wisgerhof played an innocuous back pass to goalkeeper sander boschker, but the ball bounced over the foot of the 40-year-old club stalwart and rolled into the net.
however, it didn't take long for the dutch champions to restore parity. benoît assou-ekotto blocked a rosales drive with his arm, and landzaat stroked the penalty home at the second time of asking; his first effort being disallowed because of player encroachment. marc janko had a good opportunity to reward his team's subsequent superiority with a goal just before the break, but his left-footed shot on the turn went well wide.
they were made to rue this profligacy when harry redknapp's men struck immediately after the restart. aaron lennon, a first-half substitute for the injured jermaine jenas, split the home defence with a reverse pass that defoe confidently dispatched from inside the box. once again twente drew level. theo janssen put in a delightful cross from the left and rosales rose to power a header beyond gomes.
this time it took a mere three minutes for spurs to forge ahead again. janssen's slip let in wilson palacios, and although boschker got down to save his low effort, defoe was on hand to knock in the rebound. still the joint eredivisie leaders wouldn't lie down; chadli curled a sublime free-kick into the top corner on 64 minutes to peg back the visitors again with the game's final goal.
with fc internazionale milano losing 3-0 in germany to sv werder bremen, the point was enough to see the english side through as group winners. for twente there is the consolation of a place in the uefa europa league.
