Daggers drawn as Spurs pay penalty

But a controversial penalty from Spurs old boy Fredi Kanoute and a second from Aleksandr Kerzhakov handed the advantage to the UEFA Cup holders.

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In the stands Tottenham's fans ensured another night of shame for English football in Europe as they fought with riot police midway through the first half.

The violence took the gloss off a performance that could be enough to see Tottenham progress to the semi-finals should they manage to score at White Hart Lane next week and keep the dangerous Spanish outfit at bay.

If any of the Spurs fans were in doubt as to Sevilla's success of the previous campaign, the giant banner unfurled by the local Ultras sporting the UEFA logo in giant letters surrounding a cartoon of a sword-bearing knight holding the trophy.

Renowned for being among the most passionate sets of fans in Spain, the atmosphere inside the Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan certainly did not disappoint.

Tottenham's progress on their return to European football after an absence of six seasons boded well. Winning every one of their eight matches to reach the quarterfinals saw Martin Jol's side installed as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

By Jol's own admission, however, Sevilla represented easily Tottenham's biggest test yet. That said, the tie also offered Spurs a chance to measure just how far they had progressed under the Dutchman's stewardship.

Sevilla proved their European credentials by hammering Middlesbrough 4-0 in last season's UEFA Cup Final, following that up with a 3-0 victory over mighty Barcelona in the European Super Cup.

If that were not enough, Tottenham's task was made all the more difficult given the fact the first leg fell in the middle of Holy Week, a time of celebration in Sevilla, where thousands take to the streets to watch a religious procession, but more importantly when local pride in their picturepostcard Andalucian city is at its height.

The atmosphere inside the ground may have been crackling, but Tottenham clearly had not read the script as they got off to the best possible start.

On the attack from the whistle, Dimitar Berbatov picked up the ball just outside the Sevilla area before slipping the ball to Keane, who had made a darting run between the centre backs. Andres Palop was down quickly to save Keane's first effort, but the rebound fell straight to the Irishman, who turned the ball into the empty net from close range.

Paul Robinson was tested for the first time in the 12th minute when Christian Poulsen back-heeled Renato's corner goalwards, but his effort failed to trouble the Spurs keeper.

Sevilla soon began to recover their composure and began testing the visitors with probing runs as Tottenham strived to take the sting out of the tie. And the home side got the reward for their endeavour albeit in a controversial fashion.

Paul Stalteri's clearing header struck Pascal Chimbonda and fell kindly for Adriano. The Brazilian instantly bore down on Robinson and although the keeper clearly got his hands to the ball at the striker's feet, the Sevilla man's acrobatic tumble was wrongly rewarded with a penalty by referee Alain Hamer.

As England's No 1 protested out came the yellow card.

Jol had been less than complimentary about Fredi Kanoute on the eve of the game, but the former Spurs striker stepped up and calmly stroked the spot-kick into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.

Sevilla continued to pour forward and striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov had what appeared a better claim for a penalty turned down after he tumbled under Didier Zokora's challenge. Robinson was then called into action to deny Jesus Navas, tipping his powerful strike round the post.

As things worsened on the pitch for Spurs, in the stands things also began to turn ugly.

Visiting fans to the right of Robinson's goal began fighting with riot police. It was unclear what sparked the trouble and although not of the magnitude of Wednesday's disgraceful scenes involving Manchester United fans in Rome, the police could be seen trying to restore order with their batons while several plastic seats were hurled in their direction by some Spurs supporters.

After around five minutes police did restore order, and as the attention turned back to the pitch so Tottenham's task became considerably more difficult.

Michael Dawson was guilty of a poor clearing header. Julien Escude headed the ball back into area and Kerzhakov was on hand to power his own header past Robinson on 36 minutes.

With five minutes of the half remaining Dawson was then guilty of missing a chance to put Spurs level, heading Jermaine Jenas's free-kick wide at the far post. At the restart Keane had a decent chance to score a precious second away goal after being put through by Teemu Tainio, but could only flash his shot wide of the post.

Spurs continued to enjoy more possession as the half wore on while they probed and pressed for the equaliser, but Sevilla always looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

To demonstrate that fact, Adriano picked out Kanoute on 62 minutes with a cross from the left — but the Mali striker's left-foot shot was off target.

SEVILLA (4-4-2): Palop; Alves, Navarro, Escude, David (Dragutinovic 68min); Navas, Poulsen, Renato (Marti 60), Adriano; Kerzhakov, Kanoute. Booked: David. Scorers: Kanoute 19pen, Kerzhakov 36

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-2): Robinson; Stalteri, Chimbonda, Dawson, Lee; Lennon (Malbranque 80), Jenas, Zokora, Tainio (Ghaly 84); Keane, Berbatov. Booked: Robinson, Lee, Tainio, Zokora. Scorers: Keane 2

Man of the Match: Daniel Alves.

Referee: Alain Hamer (Luxembourg).