AC MILAN 0 TOTTENHAM 1:TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR took command of the last 16 tie while concealing all evidence that they are Champions League novices. The winner was slick as Aaron Lennon went past Mario Yepes to set up Peter Crouch's goal 10 minutes from the end. The visitors were more assured than Milan and could not even be shaken by a terrible tackle from Mathieu Flamini that ended Vedran Corluka's night.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic shot home in the fourth minute of stoppage home but had made the space by shoving Michael Dawson. The hosts were overwrought by then and at full-time Gennaro Gattuso appeared to butt the Spurs coach Joe Jordan. The midfielder’s side had been on edge from the outset.
The Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri does have a fondness for the attacking style, but he was more conservative when putting the forward Pato among the substitutes. An uninhibited, flowing game with his usual trident of forwards did not accord with the intention to get them beyond the last 16 after a few years of comparative obscurity. In addition, bravado would have suited their opponents.
Tottenham began this game as if they were the home side. The intent to devise openings was on show immediately, as Rafael van der Vaart linked with Steven Pienaar and struck a cross that came off the arm of Alessandro Nesta. The referee saw no intent in the contact.
Crouch could not make much of a telling cross by Corluka in the fifth minute. The right-back soon had Christian Abbiati punching away as Crouch threatened. When the two players clashed again the apparently minor contact left the goalkeeper injured and he had to make way for Marco Amelia after 18 minutes. Milan had been suffering in various ways, with Tottenham then commanding the midfield as well as looking dangerous.
Half an hour passed without Heurelho Gomes being involved in a notable way. The one frisson of alarm had come when Sandro brought down Ibrahimovic in the 23rd minute, but the contact was just outside the area and the referee saw no offence in any case. Matters were not going in Milan’s favour but the team were not in a rush.
They did not want to be drawn into an unstable, incident-strewn game. The potential consequences of such an evening had been illustrated in Tottenham’s 4-3 defeat at San Siro in the group stage. Inter took full points, but also carried an inferiority complex. Harry Redknapp’s side qualified ahead of Inter for this phase.
There is supposed to be a prize for that in the encounter with a club that could only come second in their group. In Milan’s case the situation is more complex since they have been gathering momentum in Allegri’s first season and lead Serie A. The manager seemed to feel that Tottenham could be toppled.
When asked on the eve of the match about the many goals amassed by Redknapp’s team, Allegri had replied: “They have also suffered quite a few.” He may well have noticed, in particular, a long run of 23 games without a clean sheet this season.
That period did not wreck their campaign, however, and such proof of the flair with which the side can atone for lapses made Allegri circumspect here.
Tottenham were still in the ascendant when, four minutes from half-time, Amelia tipped over an effort from Van der Vaart. As the away side, they had also taken some precautionary measures. With Gareth Bale missing with back trouble and Luka Modric on the bench after an appendicitis, there was a measure of conservatism that introduced the sort of balance required here, with Sandro partnered tellingly by Wilson Palacios at the core of midfield.
Some Milan players found the going especially hard and Clarence Seedorf, a 34-year-old no longer cut out to be an attacking midfielder, was replaced at half-time. That did not diminish the visitors’ desire to make their mark and a clever effort from Van der Vaart went marginally off-target in the 49th minute. The opposition, all the same, had begun to make a greater effort to exploit home advantage.
Gomes did well to reach a header by Yepes and put it behind for a corner. The most notable event was a dreadful two-footed challenge by Flamini on Corluka that ended the right-back’s night and ought to have seen the midfielder sent off. Jonathan Woodgate replaced the Croat to make his first appearance since November 22nd, 2009, Gallas relocating to full-back.
Tottenham were under stress and the centre-half Yepes caused alarm more than once with aerial prowess that called for superb reactions and agility from Gomes. Having commanded for a time, Redknapp’s men showed they also knew how to cope and eventually to prosper.
Guardian Service
AC Milan:Abbiati (Amelia 18), Abate, Nesta, Yepes, Antonini, Gattuso, Thiago Silva, Flamini, Seedorf (Alexandre Pato 46), Robinho, Ibrahimovic. Subs Not Used: Papastathopoulos, Oddo, Jankulovski, Merkel, Legrottaglie. Booked: Flamini, Yepes, Gattuso.
Tottenham:Gomes, Corluka (Woodgate 59), Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Palacios, Sandro, Pienaar (Kranjcar 76), Van der Vaart (Modric 62), Crouch. Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe, Bassong.
Referee:Stephane Lannoy (France).
Crouch 80, Attendance: 80,000
