Tottenham Hotspur 4 (6) – (3) 0 BSC Young Boys

And so Spurs ran out comfortable 4-0 winners, 6-3 on aggregate. This was how the first leg should have gone too. Young Boys were always the easiest team Spurs could have drawn, and the fact that they play on a plastic pitch really should not have made any difference to a team of highly-paid Premier League footballers. Harry Redknapp’s excuses were utter rubbish, made to distract from how poorly his team had performed in the first half hour.

It was interesting to note how influential Gareth Bale was once again. He was involved in all four of Spurs’ goals again tonight, and he has apparently either assisted or scored all but one of their goals so far this season. This is a remarkable transformation. Some credit must be given to Redknapp (as much as it pains me to say so), who has given up on playing Bale in his initial left-back position and is willing to play him as a marauding winger, fully unleashing his attacking potential.

Spurs should take this two-legged tie as a useful warning of the dangers they will face in the Champions League, though. Despite the scoreline, Spurs did give Young Boys a number of decent chances – chances that would surely have been punished by Europe’s better strikers. Play like this against the Barcelonas and Inter Milans of this world, and they won’t get far. Gomes’ injury is a worry too, but Redknapp will need to tighten things up a bit more to get through the group stages.

Carling Cup:

No shocks at all in the Carling Cup this week. The only Premier League scalp was Blackpool, who lost 4-3 to MK Dons after extra time. Everton and Fulham ran out comfortable winners tonight against Huddersfield and Port Vale, respectively, and Newcastle even managed to overcome Accrington Stanley despite making eleven changes to their starting line-up.

The big guns enter in the next round, and will all surely advance. It was good to see Fulham, in particular, taking the competition seriously and fielding a full-strength side. The Carling Cup is ideal for teams of their stature as a competition that they realistically have a chance of winning. Mid-table Premier League teams should all try to take it more seriously, especially as the big teams tend to field weakened sides. Perhaps then the competition’s value would increase. If even Newcastle and Blackpool put out second strings then the League Cup is in dire straits.