Berbatov puts Tottenham through on return to Leverkusen

LEVERKUSEN, Germany, Nov 23 (Reuters) Tottenham Hotspur today sealed a place in the knockout phase of the UEFA Cup after a tap-in from Dimitar Berbatov gave them a 1-0 success at Bayer Leverkusen.

It was a triumphant return to the BayArena for Berbatov, who moved to Tottenham from Leverkusen in a 16 million euros (20.76 million dollars) transfer before the start of the season.

The Bulgarian scored in the 36th minute of a match dominated by the English team, who stay top of Group B with a maximum nine points from three games. Leverkusen have one point from two matches.

Berbatov's goal came as a result of the one piece of quality in the first half.

Robbie Keane played a beautiful angled pass inside the full back to pick out Aaron Lennon running into the area on the right. Lennon's shot struck the goalkeeper's leg and flew low across goal for Berbatov to convert.

Andriy Voronin had an excellent chance to equalise 10 minutes into the second half but his stinging shot from just inside the area was well saved by Paul Robinson. Bernd Schneider hit the post for the home side 10 minutes later.

Reuters SBA VP0335