UEFA Champions League Round of 16 : Milan vs Tottenham 1-0 Report

Diaz’s early strike gives the Rossoneri a one-goal lead in London.

AC Milan are set to sit a slender one-goal advantage over Tottenham Hotspur in north London after beating English club AC Milan 1-0 at the San Siro tonight in the Champions League round of 16.

An early goal from Brahim Diaz was enough to separate the teams as Antonio Conte suffered defeat at home.

It was another disappointment for Spurs after their 4-1 Premier League defeat by Leicester City at the weekend.

After a four-game losing streak, twice beaten by rivals Inter Milan and nine-goal winners Lazio and Sassuolo, Milan won back-to-back games for the first time since the World Cup pause.

Conte had a headache in Spurs’ midfield following Rodrigo Bentancur’s injury at the weekend.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is already absent and Yves Bissouma is out with an ankle injury, leaving Pape Matar Sarr and Oliver Skipp in midfield for only the second time.

Pedro Porro was also sidelined at right-back after a difficult debut at King Power Stadium on Saturday.

It was on Tottenham’s right side where they also fell early, as superb strong Theo Hernandez eventually led to Brahim’s introduction.

Hernandez beat Christian Romero in the air, driving into the box and forcing Fraser Forster to attack, who then quickly got up to make a miraculous save against Brahim for the second time, but the Spaniard was there to head home on the touchline to nod. The third time you will be asked.

Hernandez continued to pose a threat to Spurs defences, particularly Romero, who had a difficult night and was also a bit lucky not to see red for a high challenge against Sandro Tonali.

It was a rare half of chances as cheap mistakes and stoppage time disrupted much of the game.

Spurs did very little and their only chance was threatening from afar when Harry Kane hit the crossbar before Son Heung-min was flagged for offside.

The visitors seemed content to score just one, but were very fortunate when Milan missed two golden chances in the 75th minute.

Charles De Ketelaere’s first touch just seconds later saw him miss a golden opportunity to open his account for the Rossoneri, mistaking everything and heading wide.

The Belgian striker has not scored in his first 26 appearances for Milan since joining Club Brugge in the summer.

Moments later, another header resulted in another glaring miss, this time from defender Malicko Thiaw, who had missed a huge chance.

Leao’s excellent ball into the six-yard box made an easy task for Thiaw, but even he couldn’t direct his efforts.

But that’s how it ended when Spurs didn’t take a single chance despite six minutes of stoppage time. Milan won by a goal to zero.

Spurs have a huge domestic schedule ahead of the second leg in early March, including London derbies with West Ham United and Chelsea.

Having recently been knocked out of the top four of Serie A, Stefano Pioli’s side will take a quick trip to Monza at the weekend to get their season back on track.

Lineups:

AC Milan (3-4-3): 

Tatarusanu, Kalulu, Kjaer, Thiaw, Saelemaekers (Messias 77), Krunic, Tonali (Pobega 86), Hernandez, Diaz (De Ketelaere 77), Giroud, Leao (Rebic 90+1). 

Substitutes not used: Mirante, Nava, Calabria, Ballo, Origi, Gabbia.

Tottenham (3-4-3): 

Forster, Romero, Dier, Lenglet (Davies 81), Royal, Sarr, Skipp, Perisic, Kulusevski (Richarlison 70), Kane, Son (Danjuma 81)

Substitutes not used: Austin, Whiteman, Porro, Sanchez, Tanganga, Devine, Lucas.

Scorers:

Yellow Cards: