Erik Lamela's outrageous goal illuminates Europa League
Erik Lamela's outrageous goal illuminates Europa League
Lamela wrapped his left leg around the back of his standing leg and somehow generated enough power to fire the ball into the corner from outside the area.

Erik Lamela's outrageous goal in a big win for Tottenham illuminated the third round of Europa League group-stage matches, in which Fiorentina and Dynamo Moscow maintained their perfect starts to the competition.

In what will rank as one of the best goals seen in Europe this season, Lamela wrapped his left leg around the back of his standing leg and somehow generated enough power to fire the ball into the corner from outside the area.

"I was stunned, for two minutes I was just thinking about that goal," Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen said. "I've seen a lot of YouTube clips but I've never seen a goal like it."

The Argentina forward's "rabona" - as the manoeuver is known in football - set Tottenham on its way to a 5-1 victory over Greek side Asteras Tripolis in Group C.

Lamela also scored a brilliant volley, while young striker Harry Kane grabbed a hat trick at White Hart Lane before going in goal as a replacement for sent-off keeper Hugo Lloris and letting a late free kick slip through his fingers.

"I have seen him do that in training, he's got that in his locker," Kane said of Lamela. "And it's great to see it pay off in a big game."

Spurs moved to five points and is tied for first with Besiktas, which thrashed Partizan Belgrade 4-0.

On a night of mixed fortunes for Italian clubs, Fiorentina secured a third straight win in Group K by beating PAOK Salonika 1-0 through Juan Vargas' goal, Inter Milan dropped its first points in Group F by drawing 0-0 with Saint Etienne and Napoli slipped to a first defeat in Group I - 2-0 at Swiss team Young Boys. Torino, another of Serie A's representatives, beat HJK Helsinki 2-0 to go top of Group B.

Defending champion Sevilla stayed top of Group G on five points with a 0-0 draw at Standard Liege, as Feyenoord missed a chance to climb into first place by losing 3-1 at HNK Rijeka of Croatia. Andrej Kramaric scored a hat trick.

Group H leader Everton drew 0-0 at Lille in a match whose buildup was marred by French riot police using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse large groups of visiting fans in Lille's main square. Wolfsburg won 4-2 at FK Krasnodar in the group's other game.

There was also a crowd disturbance during a game Thursday, with the match between former Czechoslovak rivals Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague needing to be interrupted for more than half an hour due to fighting between fans.

Swedish referee Martin Strombergsson interrupted the game in the 41st minute after Sparta fans attacked Slovan supporters in the stands. The match continued only after order was restored by riot police who were deployed with an apparent delay. Sparta won 3-0.

Dynamo Moscow beat Estoril 2-1 to join Fiorentina and Legia Warsaw, which beat Metalist Kharkiv 1-0 on Wednesday, as the only sides with a maximum nine points so far.

Also, Villarreal beat FC Zurich 4-1 and Borussia Moenchengladbach routed Apollon Limassol 5-0 in Group A, and Alan scored a hat trick in Salzburg's 4-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb in Group D.

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