8 Mar 2013

Chelsea lose, Newcastle in scoreless Europa draw

10:57 am on 8 March 2013

Gareth Bale scored again as his high-flying Tottenham Hotspur beat Italian giants Inter Milan 3-0 in their Europa League last-16 tie in London.

It's Bale's 11th goal in nine games for club and country. But a yellow card for diving means the Welshman will miss the second leg in Milan.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen scored the other goals.

Chelsea lost 1-0 to Steaua Bucharest in Romania, in a major comedown for the English football club who won the Champions League 10 months ago.

Chelsea ended up in the competition after becoming the first titleholders to be eliminated in the Champions League group stage and are in danger of a second European exit of the season.

The Londoners must now regroup for next week's home leg, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.

Newcastle played out a scoreless draw in Russia against Anzhi Makhachkala, ending the Russians' 100 per cent home record in the tournament.

The stalemate gives Newcastle the edge ahead of the second leg on Tyneside next week.