Villas-Boas hails Tottenham's 'excellent attacking football' after Inter win

08-Mar-2013 5:20:00 AM

The Portuguese was delighted with his charges after they earned a 3-0 first-leg win over the Italians in the sides' Europa League last-16 clash at White Hart Lane

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas lauded his side's attacking play following their 3-0 win over Inter at White Hart Lane on Thursday.

Goals from Gareth Bale, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen helped Spurs to victory, putting them in pole position to reach the last eight of the Europa League ahead of March 14's second leg at the San Siro.


TOTTENHAM LATEST
3/1	Tottenham are 3/1 favourites with William Hill to win the Europa League

And, though the Portuguese expects a difficult night in Italy, he was delighted with Spurs' performance on home soil.

"It was a full 90-minute performance with excellent attacking football. We tried to limit their chances and had so many opportunities. It was a great European night," Villas-Boas enthused to reporters.

"Unfortunately, we're not through yet because we have to go there and the San Siro is a very difficult place to go."

The 33-year-old went on to controversially hint that goalscorer Bale had intentionally picked up a yellow card so as to avoid a suspension further on in the competition.

"It's difficult but with this result, if he hadn't have got the card, it would not have cleared him. We took a risk, obviously, but we have talent throughout the squad," he noted.

"We have now allowed Gareth to clean his yellow cards and hopefully we can make it through [without him]."

Inside Goal.Com

Goal Special: I-League Team of the Season
Each of Goal's correspondents select their own XI, before eventually settling on a combined team, which represents the best of the lot from the 2012-13 season...
Champions League Final Tactical Analysis
Brendon Netto analyzes where the Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich could be own or lost.
How Heynckes was always undermined
The veteran coach will step down from his position in charge of Die Roten after the Champions League final at Wembley. Goal reflects on how Heynckes was never given due credit....
Transfer Talk: Read all the gossips
The Goal.com Rumour Mill is your 24/7 source for all the latest rumblings in the global transfer market.
La Liga awards for 2012-13
Goal crowns the best and worst from Spain over the course of the season