Lively Defoe does the trick for Tottenham

Tottenham 3 NK Maribor 1: Jermain Defoe responded to his England snub by scoring a superb hat-trick that put Tottenham’s Europa…

Tottenham 3 NK Maribor 1:Jermain Defoe responded to his England snub by scoring a superb hat-trick that put Tottenham's Europa League campaign back on track.

Just hours after he was left out of Roy Hodgson’s squad, the striker put in a top-class performance against Slovenian side Maribor, scoring all three goals to move Tottenham up to second in Group J with two matches to go. Defoe’s excellent display owed a lot to his partnership with Emmanuel Adebayor, who made his first start of the season. Gareth Bale was also key to Defoe’s display, with the Welshman putting in one of his best performances of the season on the left.

Spurs were good value for the win, which means they will qualify for the knockout stages if they beat Lazio in Rome in two weeks’ time.