Dempsey: Tottenham 'unlucky' in controversial Lazio draw

• by Soccer America , Sep 20, 2012

[EUROPA LEAGUE] Clint Dempsey made his first start for Tottenham in its 0-0 tie with Lazio in the Europa League Thursday in London. He had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half -- one of three Spurs' goals disallowed in a match marred by racist chants from visiting Lazio fans at White Hart Lane. Americans Terrence Boyd started for the hosts and Mix Diskerud, who squared off in Rosenborg's 2-1 win in Vienna, were among  four other Americans to start on the first day of the group stage.

''I thought I was level with the line,'' Dempsey said on the offside goal on his header past goalkeeper Federico Marchetti in the 22nd minute. ''It was a good ball from [Gareth] Bale, and as it went in I thought I'd opened my account but it was waved offside. That's the way it goes sometimes. They defended well, set up to counterattack and were tough to break down. But we had some chances and were unlucky not to get the goal tonight."

The Tottenham-Lazio game was marred by racist scants coming from visiting Lazio fans at White Hart Lane. Loud monkey-chanting aimed at black players Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend were heard.

AMERICAN CONNECTION.
Alejandro Bedoya (90  minutes, 1 yellow card), Helsingborg, 0-1 at Levante
Terrence Boyd (90  minutes), Rapid Austria, 1-2 vs. Rosenborg
Steven Cherundolo (90 minutes), Hannover 96, 2-2 at FC Twente
Clint Dempsey (75 minutes), Tottenham, 0-0 vs, Lazio
Mikkel Diskerud (89  minutes), Rosenborg, 2-1 at Rapid Vienna
Brad Friedel (did not dress), Tottenham, 0-0 vs, Lazio
Joshua Gatt (did not dress), Molde, 1-2 at FC Copenhagen

EUROPA LEAGUE RESULTS.
Group A
Young Boys (Switzerland) 3, Liverpool (England) 5
Udinese (Italy) 1, Anzhi Makhachkala (Russia) 1

Group B
Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel) 0, Atletico Madrid (Spain) 3
Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) 3, Academica (Portugal) 1

Group C
AEL (Cyprus) 0, Bor. M'Gladbach (Germany) 0
Fenerbahce (Turkey) 2, Marseille (France) 2

Group D
Maritimo (Portugal) 0, Newcastle (England) 0
Bordeaux (France) 4, Club Brugge (Belgium) 0

Group E
VfB Stuttgart (Germany) 2, Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 2
FC Copenhagen (Denmark) 2, Molde (Norway) 1

Group F
Dnipro (Ukraine) 2, PSV (Netherlands) 0
Napoli (Italy) 4, AIK Stockholm (Sweden) 0

Group G
Genk (Belgium) 3, Videoton (Hungary) 0
Sporting (Portugal) 0, FC Basel (Switzerland) 0

Group H
Inter Milan (Italy) 2, Rubin Kazan (Russia) 2
Partizan (Serbia) 0, Neftci (Azerbaijan) 0

Group I
Lyon (France) 2, Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 1
Athletic Bilbao (Spain) 1, Kiryat Shmona (Israel) 1

Group J
Maribor (Slovenia) 3, Panathinaikos (Greece) 0
Tottenham (England) 0, Lazio (Italy) 0

Group K
Rapid Vienna (Austria) 1, Rosenborg (Norway) 2
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) 0, Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine) 0

Group L
Levante (Spain) 1, Helsingborg (Sweden) 0
FC Twente (Netherlands) 2, Hannover 96 (Germany) 2