Spurs won 1-0 in Benfica thanks to a goal by Gareth Bale who produced more good form at the Estadio da Luz. The north London side had a goal disallowed after 10 minutes when Bale crossed low into the middle where Crouch swept home only to be flagged offside. Benfica almost went ahead shortly before the break when Franco Jara's shot whistled narrowly wide with Heurelho Gomes beaten. Ten minutes into the second half and Spurs were 1-0 up when Jermain Defoe, a second-half substitute, centred for Giovani dos Santos who held it up on the edge of the box before playing a cheeky back-heel through to the on-rushing Bale who got there before the goalkeeper to finish well. Birmingham came back from two goals down to win 3-2 against MK Dons at stadium: mk. MK Dons went ahead after three minutes when Jermaine Easter sidefooted home a penalty awarded when Sebastian Larsson was adjudged to have handled in the area. Minutes later Blues were awarded a spot-kick themselves when Craig Gardner was fouled but James McFadden smacked the ball against the bar. The League One side doubled their lead three minutes into the second half when Jabo Ibehre produced a neat finish after some slick play but just two minutes later Blues pulled one back when Cameron Jerome beat the offside trap to gather a ball from Gardner before coolly slotting home. Jerome produced another crisp finish to level and they then got the winner through Garry O'Connor when his shot took a wicked deflection off Tom Flanagan three minutes from time Meanwhile, West Ham drew 1-1 with Southend at Roots Hall. The match had been due to kick off at 7.45pm but interest in the fixture was so high it was decided to put the start back to 8pm to enable the crowds to come in. West Ham enjoyed a very lively first half with new signing Frederic Piquionne influential in attack but they had to wait until 17 minutes into the second half to go ahead. A move built up from deep with new signing Pablo Berrera releasing Diamanti who produced an unstoppable finish from 20 yards. The League Two side drew level eight minutes later when Anthony Grant let fly from the edge of the area Stoke claimed a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers with all three goals coming in four minutes at the end of the first half. Tuncay made the breakthrough five minutes before half-time when the Potters found themselves three on three and the Rovers defence napping. The Turkey international's shot came back to him and he slotted home but just three minutes later Rovers were level when Wayne Brown sent in a corner which Dominic Blizzard headed home . However, the Premier League side were back in the lead almost instantly when Ricardo Fuller went on a solo run and rounded the goalkeeper to convert. Two goals in the opening 16 minutes saw Wolves win 2-0 at Scottish Premier League side Hearts. Mick McCarthy's side took the lead after just four minutes through Greg Halford's free-kick and they doubled their advantage 12 minutes later when Stephen Wad headed home.
