UEFA Champions League

Pav strike gives Spurs hope

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Roman Pavlyuchenko netted a vital goal late on

Scoring Summary

Young Boys	Tottenham Hotspur
Senad Lulic (4')	Sebastien Bassong (42')
Henri Bienvenu (13')	Roman Pavlyuchenko (83')
Xavier Hochstrasser (28')

Teams

Young Boys	Tottenham Hotspur
1 Marco Wolfli	1 Gomes
17 Christoph Spycher	20 Michael Dawson
7 S Sutter	32 Benoit Assou-Ekotto
25 Ammar Jemal	19 Sebastien Bassong
20 Affolter Francois	3 Gareth Bale
21 David Degen	22 Vedran Corluka
22 Xavier Hochstrasser	14 Luka Modric
11 Tape Doubai	12 Wilson Palacios
19 Senad Lulic	18 Jermain Defoe
10 Moreno Costanzo	9 Roman Pavlyuchenko
15 Henri Bienvenu	17 Giovani Dos Santos
Substitutes
35 Burki Roman	Carlo Cudicini 23
13 Adriano De Pierro	Younes Kaboul 4
16 Mario Raimondi	Tom Huddlestone 6
14 Christian Schneuwly	Niko Kranjcar 21
23 Alberto Regazzoni	Aaron Lennon 7
9 Marco Schneuwly	Peter Crouch 15
24 Emmanuel Mayuka	Robbie Keane 10
Substitutions
Christian Schneuwly for Moreno Costanzo (65)	Tom Huddlestone for Benoit Assou-Ekotto (36)
Mario Raimondi for David Degen (90)	Niko Kranjcar for Luka Modric (46)
	Robbie Keane for Jermain Defoe (66)
Yellow Cards
Henri Bienvenu (72)	Benoit Assou-Ekotto (4)
	Sebastien Bassong (68)
· Squads: Young Boys | Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham survived a humiliating first half-hour of Champions League football and had Sebastien Bassong and Roman Pavlyuchenko to thank for turning their play-off tie against Young Boys on its head.

Spurs suffered a nightmare start to their first European Cup tie for almost half a century, their unfancied Swiss hosts tearing their hapless defence to shreds in the opening 28 minutes at the Stade de Suisse.

But with their hopes of reaching the lucrative group stage hanging by a thread, Bassong and Pavlyuchenko scored two priceless away goals ahead of next Wednesday's second leg at White Hart Lane.

Spurs were taught a painful lesson as goals from Senad Lulic, Henri Bienvenu and Xavier Hochstrasser had them 3-0 down but Bassong scored just before half-time and Pavlyuchenko struck late on to spare the visitors' blushes somewhat.

Every one of Harry Redknapp's four changes from Saturday's Premier League opener against Manchester City backfired in the first half, with Pavlyuchenko, Giovani dos Santos, Wilson Palacios and Bassong all well off the pace.

The visitors had been heavy favourites to progress over two legs, though Young Boys' shock win at Fenerbahce in the last round meant they were not to be underestimated.

And they immediately proved as much during a frantic opening in which Tottenham were all at sea. Lulic struck the post in the second minute, Benoit Assou-Ekotto was booked in the fourth, and Young Boys were ahead seconds later.

Thierry Doubai's long-range shot hit the back of Ammar Jemal and fell kindly for Lulic to sidefoot home.

Dos Santos would have equalised three minutes later but for a sprawling save from Marco Wolfli, while Jermain Defoe fired over left-footed from 20 yards.

But Spurs' shocking defending continued and they were 2-0 down in the 13th minute when stand-in captain Michael Dawson slipped near the halfway line, allowing Bienvenu a clear run on goal and which ended with a neat finish.

Defoe somehow failed to connect with a wonderful Pavlyuchenko cross, before Spurs conceded a third in the 28th minute. The visitors were undone by a simple sliderule pass from Moreno Costanzo and Hochstrasser made no mistake to blast the ball over the onrushing Gomes.

Jemal went close to making it 4-0 with a free-kick over the bar before Redknapp responded to the malaise nine minutes before half-time by withdrawing Assou-Ekotto for Huddlestone.

Tottenham desperately needed to score and Bassong came up trumps three minutes from half-time, his towering header from Gareth Bale's corner beating boyhood Spurs fan Scott Sutter on the line.

Defoe also went close with a header as Spurs ended the half on top. Redknapp threw on Niko Kranjcar for Luka Modric during the break and Spurs certainly made a better start to the second half than they had the first. Pavlyuchenko dwelt on Kranjcar's inside pass 12 yards out, then poked Bale's wicked cross over the bar from half the distance.

Pavlyuchenko then fired over from 25 yards in the 65th minute, moments before Young Boys brought on Christian Schneuwly for Costanzo and Redknapp made his final change, Robbie Keane replacing Defoe.

Bassong was booked for dissent after Bale was harshly adjudged to have fouled Schneuwly and Bienvenu almost rubbed salt into the wound when he nodded over the resulting free-kick. Bienvenu then became the first Young Boys player cautioned after cynically hauling back Kranjcar.

The hosts were now looking to hit Spurs on the break and almost did so to devastating effect 12 minutes from time when Schneuwly's first-time shot whistled over the bar.

Pavlyuchenko and Bassong both went close with headers before Gomes went AWOL, allowing Bienvenu to set up Schneuwly for a close-range volley he blazed over. It proved costly for the hosts as Pavlyuchenko finally came good seven minutes from time to get Tottenham well and truly back into the tie.

The Russian dummied Vedran Corluka's ball and Keane picked out his resulting run, from which he lashed the ball past Wolfli at the near post. Young Boys made a stoppage-time change when Mario Raimondi replaced David Degen before the final whistle ended a thrilling contest.