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AC Milan 1-0 Tottenham: Antonio Conte's side fall to narrow first-leg loss in last 16

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Brahim Diaz scores for AC 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.

Milan continue bounce back against Spurs

Prior to last Friday’s victory over Torino, Stefano Pioli’s side had endured a miserable start to 2023, picking up just two points from a possible 15 – and slipping to fifth in Serie A.

However, while they do not possess the star quality or swagger of the great Milan sides, they displayed plenty of know-how to carve out a slender lead.

Their only regret will be not to have put the tie beyond a Spurs side that competed well but barely laid a glove on them in the final third.

As it is, a place in the quarter-finals very much hangs in the balance, although Conte will still have to figure out a way to compensate for the loss of Uruguay international Bentancur, who has become a key player since arriving from Juventus just over 12 months ago.

The Italian will also demand greater diligence in defence from his side with Argentine Cristian Romero sure to come under scrutiny for his role in Milan’s win.

The World Cup-winning centre-back was outjumped and left floundering by Hernandez in the build-up to the home side’s goal and was later booked for an ill-timed challenge on the lively Rafael Leao.

Stopping the Portugal international’s menacing runs in the second leg will be critical to Spurs’ hopes as they bid to prevent Milan from reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012.

Player of the match

GiroudOlivier Giroud

with an average of 6.79

AC Milan

  1. Squad number9Player nameGiroud

    Average rating

    6.79

  2. Squad number19Player nameHernández

    Average rating

    6.77

  3. Squad number20Player nameKalulu

    Average rating

    6.55

  4. Squad number24Player nameKjaer

    Average rating

    6.51

  5. Squad number8Player nameTonali

    Average rating

    6.46

  6. Squad number10Player nameDíaz

    Average rating

    6.44

  7. Squad number17Player nameRafael Leão

    Average rating

    6.43

  8. Squad number28Player nameThiaw

    Average rating

    6.22

  9. Squad number90Player nameDe Ketelaere

    Average rating

    6.09

  10. Squad number32Player namePobega

    Average rating

    6.08

  11. Squad number12Player nameRebic

    Average rating

    6.05

  12. Squad number1Player nameTatarusanu

    Average rating

    6.03

  13. Squad number30Player nameJunior Messias

    Average rating

    5.97

  14. Squad number33Player nameKrunic

    Average rating

    5.84

  15. Squad number56Player nameSaelemaekers

    Average rating

    5.79

Tottenham Hotspur

  1. Squad number29Player nameSarr
    Average rating

    6.66

  2. Squad number4Player nameSkipp
    Average rating

    6.26

  3. Squad number20Player nameForster
    Average rating

    5.89

  4. Squad number12Player nameEmerson Royal
    Average rating

    5.72

  5. Squad number7Player nameSon Heung-min
    Average rating

    5.41

  6. Squad number17Player nameRomero
    Average rating

    5.22

  7. Squad number14Player namePerisic
    Average rating

    5.20

  8. Squad number21Player nameKulusevski
    Average rating

    5.19

  9. Squad number10Player nameKane
    Average rating

    5.19

  10. Squad number34Player nameLenglet
    Average rating

    4.97

  11. Squad number9Player nameRicharlison
    Average rating

    4.76

  12. Squad number16Player nameDanjuma
    Average rating

    4.47

  13. Squad number15Player nameDier
    Average rating

    4.41

  14. Squad number33Player nameDavies
    Average rating

    4.05

Line-ups

AC Milan

Formation 3-4-2-1

1Tatarusanu

20Kalulu24Kjaer28Thiaw

56Saelemaekers33Krunic8Tonali19Hernández

10Díaz17Rafael Leão

9Giroud

  • 1Tatarusanu
  • 20Kalulu
  • 24Kjaer
  • 28Thiaw
  • 56SaelemaekersSubstituted forMessiasat 77′minutes
  • 33Krunic
  • 8TonaliBooked at 80minsSubstituted forPobegaat 86′minutes
  • 19HernándezBooked at 90mins
  • 10DíazSubstituted forDe Ketelaereat 77′minutes
  • 17Rafael LeãoSubstituted forRebicat 90+1′minutes
  • 9Giroud

Substitutes

  • 2Calabria
  • 5Ballo-Touré
  • 12Rebic
  • 27Origi
  • 30Messias
  • 32Pobega
  • 46Gabbia
  • 83Mirante
  • 90De Ketelaere
  • 92Nava

Tottenham

Formation 3-4-2-1

20Forster

17Romero15Dier34Lenglet

12Emerson Royal4Skipp29Sarr14Perisic

21Kulusevski7Son Heung-min

10Kane

  • 20Forster
  • 17RomeroBooked at 48mins
  • 15DierBooked at 63mins
  • 34LengletSubstituted forDaviesat 81′minutes
  • 12Emerson Royal
  • 4Skipp
  • 29Sarr
  • 14Perisic
  • 21KulusevskiSubstituted forRicharlisonat 70′minutes
  • 7Son Heung-minSubstituted forDanjumaat 81′minutes
  • 10Kane

Substitutes

  • 6D Sánchez
  • 9Richarlison
  • 16Danjuma
  • 23Porro
  • 25Tanganga
  • 27Lucas Moura
  • 33Davies
  • 40Austin
  • 41Whiteman
  • 45Devine
Referee:
Sandro Schärer

Attendance:
74,320

Match Stats

Live Text

Post update

Match ends, AC Milan 1, Tottenham Hotspur 0.

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