London: Samuel Eto'o spurred Inter Milan's defence of its Champions League title with a hat-trick in the 4-0 thrashing of Werder Bremen on Wednesday and Rubin Kazan again frustrated Barcelona by holding the Spanish giants to a 1-1 draw in Russia.
Eto'o, who scored Inter's equaliser in the 2-2 draw at FC Twente in its opening Group A match, began the rout against Werder with a couple of well-taken first-half finishes before adding his third in the 81st minute. Wesley Sneijder scored the other goal as the Italians went top of the group on goal difference.
Barcelona dropped five points to Rubin in last season's group stages and fell behind to the Russian champions again before David Villa equalised from the spot in the 60th.
Elsewhere, Manchester United beat Valencia 1-0 away in Group C, thanks to Javier Hernandez's late strike and Tottenham joined Inter on four points with a 4-1 victory over Twente, with Spurs midfielder Rafael van der Vaart scoring a goal, missing a penalty and then getting sent off.
Eto'o is the joint top-scorer in Italy this season with five goals and he is already on four in the Champions League after just two games.
The Cameroon striker thrived on Wednesday playing as the central striker of an attacking three in the absence of the injured Diego Milito.
"In the past, Samuel has played in the middle and on the right," Inter coach Rafael Benitez said. "This year, he has been playing more to the left and been getting nearer the goal. Tonight, he played as the central striker and when he is near the goal, he is always dangerous."
Eto'o put Inter ahead in the 21st after being fed by Esteban Cambiasso and doubled his tally with a low finish after running onto a long pass from Brazil center back Lucio, who was carried off on a stretcher on the hour mark with a foot injury.
Eto'o set up Sneijder for the third in the 34th and the Netherlands World Cup star returned the favor for his teammate to complete his hat trick by racing clear and rounding Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese in the 81st.
"We need to make sure we qualify first, then we can concentrate on winning the group," Benitez said.
Van der Vaart was central to proceedings at White Hart Lane as Tottenham claimed its first ever Champions League group stage victory in an incident-filled match that featured three penalties, five goals and a red card.
"It was a strange game for me — I've never played in a game like that before," Van der Vaart said. "I was worried we wouldn't win the game (after the sending-off) but in the end, the guys played fantastic."
The Netherlands midfielder put Tottenham ahead two minutes after halftime before getting a second yellow card in the 61st minute for a high challenge on Roberto Rosales.
Roman Pavlyuchenko clinched victory over the Dutch champions with two more penalties, scoring either side of a 56th-minute goal by Nacer Chadli. Gareth Bale completed the win with five minutes left.
Barcelona could easily have lost against Rubin, with substitute Obafemi Martins heading against the post from close range with three minutes left.
The hosts went ahead through Christian Noboa's penalty after Daniel Alves brought down Vitali Kaleshin in the box, only for Villa to beat Giedrius Arlauskis from the spot following defender Lasha Salukvadze's foul on Andres Iniesta.
Argentina forward Lionel Messi came on as a substitute midway through the second half after being out injured for nine days but could not inspire the three-time European champions to victory.
FC Copenhagen tops the group on a maximum of six points after beating Panathinaikos 2-0 in the other match, with Dame Ndoye and Martin Vingaard getting the goals in the first half.
In Group C, Hernandez came off the bench to score his first competitive goal for United, driving in a left-footed finish in the 85th minute of a tight game of few chances at the Mestalla.
The Mexico striker looks to be behind Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen in the list of strikers at Old Trafford in his first season at the club but took his finish well, impressing manager Alex Ferguson in the process.
"You cannot take away from the fact that he is a fantastic finisher. The way he took his chance, it was like shelling peas. It was so natural to him," Ferguson said.
Rangers is level on four points at the top of the group, thanks to a 1-0 win over Bursaspor, courtesy Steven Naismith's well-taken 18th-minute strike.
Lyon left its domestic troubles behind and maintained its perfect start in Group B with a 3-1 win at Hapoel Tel Aviv as Michel Bastos scored twice — including one from the spot — and Miralem Pjanic added a third in second-half stoppage time.
Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama replied for Hapoel with a 79th-minute penalty, the 13th spot-kick awarded in the second round of fixtures, a record for the Champions League.
Schalke joined Benfica on three points by beating the Portuguese team. Jefferson Farfan opened the scoring in the 73rd and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar wrapped things up when he poked home a finish following a left-wing cross by Jermaine Jones.
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