Brahim Diaz fired AC Milan to a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday that put Europe’s reigning champions in control of the Champions League last 16 for a seventh time.
Diaz netted the only goal of the game in the seventh minute at a packed San Siro to give Milan the advantage ahead of next month’s second leg in London.
The Spaniard’s strike was the first and one of the few real chances of a poor game that highlighted the distant form of both teams going forward.
Milan went into their first defeat in the competition since 2014 with a drawn season after a terrible result last month that left their Serie A title defense in tatters.
But the hosts have a good chance of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012 after restricting injury-hit Spurs to a rout on Antonio Conte’s return to Milan.
Conte, in the Spurs dugout for two weeks after undergoing gall bladder surgery, handed central midfield to youngsters Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr after losing Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma to injury last week.
And with his team failing to provide any service to goalscorer Harry Kane, Milan had great chances to extend their lead on aggregate quickly, which Charles De Ketelaere and Malick Thiaw did in the closing stages.