MILAN (Italy) (AFP) Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti became the oldest ever Champions League scorer as the reigning champions edged out 10-man Tottenham 4-3 in a thriller at the San Siro on Wednesday. This really was a tale of two halves as Inter romped to a 4-0 lead before the break while Gareth Bale scored a stunning second half hat-trick. Samuel Etoo notched a brace and Dejan Stankovic added the fourth, all before half-time, before Bales brilliant solo cameo while Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes was dismissed after just eight minutes. Inter now lead Group A by three points from Harry Redknapps team ahead of the pairs meeting at White Hart Lane in two weeks time. Bale expressed his disappointment at Spurs first half showing but said they would learn from their mistakes. We were sloppy in the first half, were not really sure what happened, he said. There wasnt too much to think about with the goals, we just wanted to get back into the game. There are a lot of positives to take from the second half, we kept the ball well. But were massively disappointed to have lost the game. Redknapp said he was relieved that his side didnt suffer a thrashing. I was massively disappointed, I feel we started the game sloppily, we didnt start as I wanted, he said. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, it was disastrous. At half-time I said to the players that all youve got to play for is pride, youve got to make sure you dont come off being embarrassed with a crazy score. We did better in the second half, we continued to work them, we threatened when we got the ball wide. (Aaron) Lennon was a threat and Bale was, I thought we were quite bold. We could have taken a wide player off. We didnt get the reward in terms of points but we did in terms of pride. Inter coach Rafael Benitez hit out at his team for their second half showing. In the first half we played very well but in the second we were a little bit too relaxed, we made too many mistakes, they played well on the counter but we played for them, he said. We knew before that (Bale) is a good player and we know that now. He played very well but we gave them too much space, we made too many mistakes. This was the day, though, when Spurs Champions League education truly began as they paid for every mistake they made in a disastrous first 45 minutes. The game was over within a quarter of an hour as Spurs trailed 3-0 and were down to 10-men. The English team had a nightmare start in only the second minute as Alan Hutton was dragged inside by Coutinho who passed to Etoo to slide Zanetti into the space vacated by Hutton, the Inter captain curling home with aplomb. And eight minutes in, Spurss task became near-impossible as Benoit Assou-Ekotto was caught napping, allowing Jonathan Biabiany to run behind him onto Wesley Sneijders pass. Gomes came out to close down the Frenchman but clattered into him as he chipped the Brazilian. Assou-Ekotto had by now got back into a defensive position and while the award of a penalty was unquestionable, the red card for Gomes seemed an unnecessarily harsh double-blow. Redknapp brought off his playmaker Luca Modric to bring on reserve goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini and the Italians first task was to pick Etoos successful spot-kick out of his net on 11 minutes. Spurs were in complete disarray and they conceded again on 14 minutes as their defence fell apart with Dejan Stankovic shooting home from the edge of the area following good work from Maicon and Etoo. The visitors managed to regroup and even mounted an attack but Peter Crouch should have done better with Aaron Lennons dink to the back post instead of getting underneath it. Spurs problem was in defence and Coutinho slipped in Etoo on 35 minutes between the ball-watching centre-backs William Gallas and Sebastian Bassong and although Cudicini got a touch on his prod, it still found the net. Cudicini finally made a save, even a double save, at his near post, both times from Maicon, near the end of a totally one-sided half. Redknapp must have said something to motivate his team at half time because Bale scored the goal of the night seven minutes after the restart. The Welsh flyer picked up the ball fully 70 yards from goal, burst between Maicon and Zanetti, ran all the way to the box and then cracked a left-foot shot across Julio Cesar and inside the far post. And he scored two more goals from identical positions in a frantic and bizarre finish. In the last minute he picked up the ball 40 yards from goal, drove into the box and shot across Cesar before being teed up from 15 yards to drill home another sumptuous left-foot strike in injury time. Meanwhile, Manchester United shrugged off the disappointment of Wayne Rooneys imminent departure to defeat Turkish side Bursaspor 1-0 in the Champions League here Wednesday. A sublime first-half goal from Portuguese international Nani clinched victory for Sir Alex Fergusons men on a day when events off the pitch dominated the headlines at Old Trafford. The victory left the English giants comfortably on course to qualify from Group C, with seven points from three games, two clear of Rangers who drew with Valencia in Glasgow. Rooney, who had been injured in training on Tuesday, had dropped another bombshell shortly before kick-off when he accused United of lacking ambition in a statement where he confirmed his intention to quit. Ferguson was initially reluctant to dwell on the subject after the match, saying the club intended to formally address Rooneys comments on Thursday. We dont want this to be a saga, said Ferguson, who expressed satisfaction with the performance of Nani. Hes got better, thats a great thing, and hes added a goal ratio to his game which is important, Ferguson said. Hes got great feet, courage, hes quick - a lot of things are coming together for him. Ferguson acknowledged disappointment that Uniteds margin of victory was not greater. We could have pushed on better but I think we did the job well in terms of the intensity of our game, he said. We controlled the whole match, I think they had one shot with two minutes to go or something like that, but we could have done better in terms of last-third play. I didnt think they could score, our defensive concentration was very good, he added. Bursaspor coach Ertugrul Saglam admitted the defeat had left his teams struggling to qualify following Rangers and Valencias draw. We have to win our last three games to have a chance, he said. At a minimum we must win two of our games and draw the other. While United dominated possession for long periods, a starting midfield featuring Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Anderson was rarely able to conjure up the guile to break down the Turkish champions. Federico Macheda struggled to impose himself in attack and it was left to Nani to provide much of the attacking threat before a crowd of 72,610. United were barely threatened by the visitors in the opening exchanges, stroking the ball around comfortably against opponents who appeared to be suffering a bad case of stage-fright. The opener came after Fletcher found Nani just outside the area. The elusive winger turned his man brilliantly and ghosted towards goal before curling a superb shot beyond Dimitar Ivankov. Ivankov had been forewarned of the United threat after only three minutes, Anderson sending Macheda bearing down on goal with a deft pass only for the Italian to see his shot well saved. Yet Uniteds early promise fizzled out after Nani scored, and for all their slick approach play Fergusons men were unable to created many goalscoring opportunities. All too often the final ball went astray and United attacks broke down. With Bursaspor defending deep, the visitors looked for opportunities on the counter-attack and had United on the back foot on 30 minutes when a slip by Nemanja Vidic allowed Ozan Ipek to break. Fullback Rafael one of Uniteds best performers on the night was alive to the danger however, covering well to snuff out the threat. The introduction of Gabriel Obertan and Mexican international Javier Hernandez gave United more thrust later in the second half but the home fans had to settle for victory by a solitary goal.