UEFA Cup 08/09: Round-Up - 23/10/08

Tottenham's disastrous start to the season continued in Italy as they opened their Group D campaign in the Uefa Cup with a 2-0 defeat to Udinese.

And to make matters worse for under pressure manager Juande Ramos, their latest loss was largely self-inflicted as goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes conceded a needless penalty and Jamie O'Hara was sent off with more than half an hour to go.

Gomes made a terrible mistake when he failed to deal with a simple back-pass and then pulled down Fabio Quagliarella to concede the spot-kick, which Antonio Di Natale converted in the 24th-minute.

The Brazilian tried to make amends with two fine saves in the second half but the damage had been done and Tottenham's woes were increased by a red card for O'Hara which left them chasing the game with ten men.

The midfielder was cautioned twice in the space of 52 seconds to become the third Tottenham player to be dismissed in their last two games.

Aston Villa kicked off their Uefa Cup Group F campaign in style with a fine 2-1 success over Ajax at Villa Park.Although Thomas Vermaelen cancelled out Martin Laursen's opener, Gareth Barry struck on the stoke of half-time to give Martin O'Neill's side the points.

The home side made a bright start to the contest and were rewarded for their endeavours after eight minutes when Laursen headed Villa in front.

Ashley Young delivered the perfect corner for the Dane to arrive right on cue to nod home past the helpless Kenneth Vermeer in the Ajax goal.

However, Ajax did not go into their shell and were back on level terms on 22 minutes in a similar fashion to Villa's opener. Urby Emanuelson delivered a telling corner that Vermaelen powered home in off the crossbar.

AC Milan got their Uefa Cup Group E campaign off to a winning start with a comprehensive 3-1 victory over Heerenveen.

Two first-half goals within four minutes plus a second-half effort from Filippo Inzaghi sealed the points for the Italian giants, although the Dutch hosts pulled back a late penalty consolation.

Andriy Shevchenko had the first effort on goal, forcing keeper Brian Vandenbussche into a save from a free-kick in the third minute.

Mika Vayrynen then made Dida save at the other end, before a Calvin Jong-a-Pin own goal put the visitors in front on 19 minutes.

The goal came from a Kaka corner, with the luckless Heerenveen left back directing the Brazilian's cross from the right into his own net.

The Italians then doubled their advantage four minutes later with a Gennaro Gattuso strike, with Kaka again the provider.

The home side pressed to get back in the game, forcing Dida into several more saves, before Inzaghi sealed the points on 69 minutes.

His right footed effort from inside the area meant he became the all-time record goalscorer in Uefa club competitions with 64 goals, one ahead of Real Madrid's Raul.

The hosts then scored a late consolation when Danijel Pranjic netted from the spot with four minutes to go, after Paulo Henrique was fouled in the area by Giuseppe Favalli.