AC Milan 1 – 0 Tottenham

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Brahim Diaz’s early goal condemned Tottenham to a 1-0 defeat against AC Milan in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the San Siro.

Former Manchester City winger Diaz headed home from close range after seven minutes and Spurs were lucky not to fall behind in the closing stages as Milan spurned two leading chances through Charles De Ketelaere and Malick Thiaw.

However, Antonio Conte will be relieved to return to north London with a one-goal deficit having been forced to field a central midfield pairing of Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr due to Rodrigo Bentancur’s injury and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s suspension.

Skipp and Sarr performed well in difficult conditions on their Champions League debuts but, in a typical game, Spurs, beaten 4-1 by Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday, could not create any clear scoring chances.

Personnel issues will continue in the second leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with a yellow card to Eric Dier meaning he will miss out through suspension, but the one-goal margin of defeat means the tie is still open for Conte and his players.

Player rating

AC Milan Tatarusanu (7), Thiaw (7), Kalulu (7), Kjaer (7), Hernandez (7), Saelemaekers (6), Krunic (7), Tonali (7), Diaz (7), Leao (8), Giroud (6).

Subs: Ketelaere (5), Messias (6), Pobega (n/a), Rebic (n/a).

Tottenham: Forster (7), Emerson (6), Romero (5), Dier (6), Lenglet (6), Perisic (7), Sarr (7), Skipp (7), Kulusevski (5), Kane (6), Son (6).

Subs: Richarlison (6), Danjuma (6), Davies (6).

Player of the Match: Raphael Leo

How Milan claimed victory

Conte claimed some of his players were struggling to cope with the pressure after the 4-1 loss to Leicester and, at a hostile San Siro, Milan’s early opener appeared to provide further evidence.

Picture:
Brahim Diaz scored AC Milan’s winning goal against Tottenham

The goal came after Theo Hernandez beat Cristian Romero with a long pass down the left and forced a save from Forster, who then acrobatically saved Diaz’s follow-up, only for the winger to force the loose ball into the net with a diving header.

Spurs had to work hard to contain the dangerous Rafael Leao, but slowly settled into the game after the early goal, causing problems for the hosts with a number of set-piece deliveries, although without creating any clear-cut chances in the first half.

The second period began with the reckless dismissal of Romero, who was only booked, with VAR upholding the decision not to send him off, after he flew at Sandro Tonali as Milan went forward on the counter-attack.

team news

  • Olivier Giroud was selected to lead the line for AC Milan, flanked by Rafael Leao and former Man City player Brahim Diaz.
  • Tottenham fielded Pape Sarr and Oliver Skipp in midfield with Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Yves Bissouma unavailable.

The game continued to follow the same pattern after that, with Leao the only player to provide a spark and Spurs struggling to convert possession into goalscoring opportunities.

Conte threw on Richarlison for Dejan Kulusevski in an attempt to add to his team’s attacking threat, but all he could muster was a half-chance, Sarr sending a long-range effort straight at Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.

The hosts then had two golden chances to take advantage, De Ketekaerem, on as a substitute moments earlier, making a fine move after Oliver Giroud crossed back into the danger area, and defender Thiaw then did the same when picked out. out by Leao in a better position.

Dier failed to connect properly with his own header, from a corner, as Spurs tried to punish Milan for a miss at the back of the pitch, but it didn’t look like scoring.

Leao’s amazing dribbles – Opta stats

  • Rafael Leao completed nine dribbles in this game, the most by a player in a single match in the Champions League this season and the most by a Milan player since Opta started collecting the data (2003/04).
  • Milan have beaten Tottenham in European competition for the first time in the fifth attempt (D2 L2), and it is the first victory in the last 10 against English opposition (D1 L8), since the 4-0 win against Arsenal in 2012 in the Champions. League.
  • Tottenham are the first English team to lose four consecutive Champions League games since Arsenal between 2016 and 2017, with Antonio Conte’s side failing to score in each of those games.
  • Milan enjoyed their first Champions League defeat since beating Barcelona 2-0 in February 2013 in the last 16, losing all three since then.
  • Harry Kane made his 66th appearance for Tottenham in a major European competition, the most by any Spurs player, equal to Hugo Lloris.

What’s next for Spurs?

Sunday, February 19, 4:00 p.m

Kick off 4:30pm


Tottenham back to Premier League action with a home game against West Ham, live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday from 3.30pm; kick-off 4.30pm.

Spurs will play in the second leg of the last 16 of the Champions League AC Milan Saturday 8 March at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; kick-off 8pm.

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