Tottenham fall to narrow first-leg loss at Milan

Tottenham will have to produce a Champions League comeback after Brahim Diaz gave AC Milan a narrow win in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the San Siro.

Diaz nodded in early on after Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster had saved a Theo Hernandez shot and then superbly got a hand on the scorer's initial follow-up attempt.

Antonio Conte's side looked relatively comfortable for long periods of the contest against the seven-time European champions - as a youthful pairing of Pape Sarr and Oliver Skipp deputised ably for the suspended Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and the injured Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield.

However, they were rarely able to build any attacking momentum with their front three of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and, until his withdrawal, Dejan Kulusevski well shackled by a disciplined home defence.

Aside from ambitious long-range efforts from Emerson Royal and Sarr, Conte's side appeared most capable of threatening from set-pieces but neither Kane nor Eric Dier were able to direct headers on goal from two excellent Son deliveries.

In the end, Spurs were grateful for the profligacy of the hosts as Belgian midfielder Charles de Ketelaere and German defender Malick Thiaw both headed excellent opportunities - to put the Italian side firmly in control of the tie - wide.

Had either nodded in from close range, Spurs would have faced an even more challenging recovery operation in the return leg in London on Wednesday, 8 March.

As it is, they must try to turn the tie round without Dier, who will be suspended after he collected a second-half booking.

More to follow.

Player of the match

GiroudOlivier Giroud

AC Milan

Squad number9Player nameGiroud

Squad number19Player nameHernández

Squad number20Player nameKalulu

Squad number24Player nameKjaer

Squad number8Player nameTonali

Squad number10Player nameDíaz

Squad number17Player nameRafael Leão

Squad number28Player nameThiaw

Squad number90Player nameDe Ketelaere

Squad number32Player namePobega

Squad number12Player nameRebic

Squad number1Player nameTatarusanu

Squad number30Player nameJunior Messias

Squad number33Player nameKrunic

Squad number56Player nameSaelemaekers

Line-ups

AC Milan

Formation 3-4-2-1

1Tatarusanu

20Kalulu24Kjaer28Thiaw

56Saelemaekers33Krunic8Tonali19Hernández

10Díaz17Rafael Leão

9Giroud

Substitutes

Tottenham

Formation 3-4-2-1

20Forster

17Romero15Dier34Lenglet

12Emerson Royal4Skipp29Sarr14Perisic

21Kulusevski7Son Heung-min

10Kane

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, AC Milan 1, Tottenham Hotspur 0.

Second Half ends, AC Milan 1, Tottenham Hotspur 0.

Foul by Ivan Perisic (Tottenham Hotspur).

Pierre Kalulu (AC Milan) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Theo Hernández (AC Milan) is shown the yellow card.

Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Foul by Theo Hernández (AC Milan).

Substitution, AC Milan. Ante Rebic replaces Rafael Leão.

Oliver Skipp (Tottenham Hotspur) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Foul by Charles De Ketelaere (AC Milan).

Attempt missed. Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Ivan Perisic with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Simon Kjaer.

Substitution, AC Milan. Tommaso Pobega replaces Sandro Tonali.

Attempt missed. Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Oliver Skipp.

Hand ball by Malick Thiaw (AC Milan).

Offside, Tottenham Hotspur. Eric Dier tries a through ball, but Ben Davies is caught offside.

Attempt missed. Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ivan Perisic with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Tottenham Hotspur. Conceded by Pierre Kalulu.

Attempt blocked. Pape Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Richarlison.

Substitution, Tottenham Hotspur. Ben Davies replaces Clément Lenglet.

Source Link