Milan 1-0 Tottenham: Champions League last-16 first leg – as it ...
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Antonio Conte speaks ...“I think it was better today, high intensity and I think we played against a good team,” he tells BT Sport. “Don’t forget, Milan won the league last season in Italy. To concede that first goal, we can do much better. We concede a goal after only maybe five minutes and then we try to crerate a situation to score but Milan defended very well. We had chances to score but at the end we are talking about a defeat.”
On Skipp and Sarr: “I’m really satisfied for both playersbecause I think Sarr and Skippy played a very good game and they showed that the trust that we have in them is justified. They repaid it. Don’t forget that now we are with three midfielders and we maybe have to continue for the rest of the season with these three midfielders. These performances from Skippy and Sarr make me more relaxed.”
Match report: AC Milan 1-0 Tottenham HotspurBrahim Diaz scored the only goal of an often scrappy game to give AC Milan a slender lead ahead of the second leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Guardian’s chief football correspondent David Hytner reports …
Oliver Skipp: “I enjoyed every minute of it,” the young SPurs midfielder tells BT SPort. “It wasn’t the result we wanted but we’re still in it so we’ll take the positives from that. It was nice to make my debut … well, from the start anyway. It’s always something you dream of as a kid, playing in the Champions League.
“It wasn’t the best start because it was a goal that we didn’t need to concede but I think we reacted well and neither team created too many chances but now there’s a second leg and we have a deficit to come back from.”
On the trust placed in him and Pape Sarr by Conte: “I think me and Pape, we did our jobs in midfield. There were things we could have done better and things we did well. I think it was nice to gain the manager’s trust and hopefully we repaid it.”
Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr: Despite the pre-match fears of Spurs fans, Skipp and Sarr performed very well for a Spurs side that huffed and puffed but never looked like scoring from open play. Conte’s side did have plenty of set-pieces but failed to do anything of note with any of them. Eric Dier, having picked up a booking, will miss the next leg through suspension.
A quick recapAC Milan 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Tottenham got off to an awful start, going a goal down to a Brahim Diaz header despite the best attempts of their goalkeeper Fraser Forster. Chances for either side were few and far between from that point until midway through the second half. Milan missed two sitters in quick succession, substitute Charles De Ketalere and Malick Thiaw the guilty men after heading wide when scoring looked far easier. Eric Dier also went close but overall, Tottenham will be pleased enough to escape with nothing more than a one-goal deficit.
90+6 min: Tatarusanu dawdles over a goal-kick, eventually takes it and the final whistle is blown by Sandro Scharer. It’s all over at the San Siro, with the second leg to come in London on 8 March.
90+4 min: Harry Kane is bested by Simon Kjaer again, the Dane staying on his feet and failing to let Kane get off a shot after the Tottenham captain had found himself in space and running through the penalty area towards the Milan goal. Kjaer hasn’t given Kane an inch all night.
90+2 min: Theo Hernandez gets booked for dissent after shoving Richarlison to the ground. Nothing comes from the Tottenham free-kick.
90 min: Milan substitution: Leao makes way for Ante Rebic. We’re into six minutes of added time.
89 min: A curled cross from Giroud finds Leao galloping towards the Tottenham goal but the fatigued winger isn’t quite quick enough to control the ball properly and Forster cleans up at the back for Spurs.
86 min: Milan substitution: Tommaso Pobega on for Sandro Tonali.
85 min: This game has really sparked into life in the past 10 minutes and Spurs have made more subsitutions. Arnaut Danjuma and Ben Davies are on for Lenglet and Son.
82 min: Now it’s Eric Dier’s turn to miss a decent scoring opportunity, failing to make sufficient contact with an inswinger from a corner when completely unmarked and about eight yards from goal.
78 min: Milan miss two glorious chances to extend their lead, both coming from poor headers after crosses from the left. Just on as a sub, De Ketalere somehow steers the ball wide of the far post when the goal was gaping after a flick from Giroud wafted his way. Moments later, Malick Thiaw headed wide from six yards when completely unmarked at the far post. Olivier Giroud looks distraught in the wake of these squandered opportunities.
78 min: Milan double-substitution: Junior Messias and Charles De Ketelaere on for Saelemaekers and Brahim Diaz.
76 min: Eric Dier slides in to intercept a dangerous pass towards Brahim Diaz, who was making a run in behind. He vents his fury at Son, who had given the ball away in midfield.
75 min: Pape Sarr tries a shot from distance that sails wide, infuriating his team-mate Richarlison.
74 min: An Oliver Skipp pull-back into the Milan penalty area is met by Richarlison but his effort is blocked some way from goal.
73 min: Simon Kjaer heads away an Ivan Perisic cross from deep into the Milan penalty area. Spurs are chugging away gamely but creating little or nothing in the way of scoring opportunities.
70 min: Spurs substitution: Richarlison on. Dejan Kulusevski makes way, having had a poor game by his usual lofty standards.
68 min: Milan free-kick, a long way out. Hernandez curls the ball towards the edge of the Spurs penalty area, trying to pick out Giroud. He doesn’t find his intended target.
67 min: Milan corner after good work by Leao. Theo Hernandez’s inswinger is dismal and cleared at the near post.
66 min: Lenglet beats two Milan defenders and tries to drill a low cross into the Milan penalty area. Simon Kjaer reads his intentions and the ball goes out for another off his outstretched field. Nothing comes of the set-piece.
65 min: Clement Lenglet tests the hobbling Milan goalkeeper with a ball from deep into the box. The goalkeeper grabs it confidently and dispatches it upfield. He seems better.
64 min: Eric Dier fouls Olivier Giroud and gets a yellow card that seems fairly harsh. He’ll miss the second leg through suspension.
62 min: Perisic’s inswinger is plucked from the air by Tatarusanu, who immediately winces and hops on one foot upon landing. He’s in obvious discomfort but Spurs put him under no pressure at that corner.
61 min: Ciprian Tatarusanu, Milan’s second choice goalkeeper, does seem to have turned his ankle but he soldiers on for now. Play resumes and a Son cross from the right is deflected out for a corner.
59 min: Milan’s goalkeeper goes to ground, injured or possibly just time-wasting after contesting a high ball with Clement Lenglet. The Milan medics are summoned.
58 min: No, he can’t.
57 min: Over 10 minutes into thie second half and very, very little of note has happened beyond EMerson’s assassination attempt on Sandro Tonali. Spurs win a free-kick, 25 yards out, well left of centre. Let’s see if Son can conjure up something here …
54 min: Trying to take a throw-in near the Milan technical area, Alexis Saelemaekens is briefly startled by the sound of his manager Stefano Pioli roaring instructions in his ear. I think the guidance was for someone further upfield but Saelemaekers certainly got the message.
53 min: Milan threaten with a couple of forays upfield but don’t trouble Forster in the Spurs goal. The early goal aside, he’s had very little to do.
52 min: Spurs are struggling to create anything of note in a second half that’s been very scrappy so far.
47 min: Son gives the ball away deep in Milan territory but Spurs win it back moments later. It’s returned to Milan again and Romero takes out Sandro Tonali with a late, mistimed tackle that earns him a yellow card. He complains to the referee in the strongest possible terms despite his booking being thoroughly deserved. Should it have been red? Probably not but it was certainly veering towards orange. It was a daft challenge, there was no need for him to slide in like that. Tonali receives treatment and seems OK.
Second half: AC Milan 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur46 min: Milan restart, a goal to the good and with no changes in personnel on either side.
A quick recap: Despite the best attempts of Fraser Forster who pulled off two saves – one of them bordering on miraculous – in the build-up, Tottenham went behind to an early Brahim Diaz header from no distance at all, the Spaniard showing great initiative to follow-up his own shot. Milan have been fairly comfortable ever since but Spurs have threatened at times, occasionally from one of their many set-pieces, and will fancy their chances of scoring a goal or two in the second half.
Half-time: AC Milan 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur45+3 min: Milan scramble clear as Tottenham get forward again and then the visitors win another free-kick in a good position as Harry Kane leans into Simon Kjaer and falls over. Son sends the ball into the penalty area, Milan head clear and Romero is penalised for offside. It’s time for a break.
45+1 min: Not known for his lightning pace, Olivier Giroud still manages to get in behind the Spurs defence to latch on to a 60-yard punt downfield. With a better touch, he’d almost certainly have put his side two up. Spurs get away with it.
45 min: A low Son shot is saved well by Tatarusanu and Harry Kane hits the cross-bar with his follow-up. The ball bounces down and doesn’t cross the line but it wouldn’t have counted anyway because Son was offside in the build-up.
44 min: Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr have performed pretty well in the heart of the Tottenham midfield in this first half, working diligently and industriously but without doing anything particularly eye-catching.
42 min: Alexis Saelemaekers does superbly to get back and prevent a Son cross, giving away a corner in the process. Perisic’s floated delivery is comfortably caught by Ciprian Tatarusanu.
39 min: Theo Hernandez is looking a constant threat down the left-hand side, over- and under-lapping with Rafael Leao and getting into very advanced positions. Not for the first time in this game he gets the better of Romero, getting in behind the right-back and drilling the ball towards the near post. His hands behind his back to avoid giving away a penalty for handball, Eric Dier knees the ball out for a corner from which nothing comes.
38 min: The timely intervention of an Oliver Skipp big toe puts an end to a Milan attack and Cristian Romero takes possession of the ball.
37 min: Kane is fouled by Simon Kjaer, who wrestles him to the ground and perhaps catches him with a kick as the pair grapple near the halfway line.
35 min: Spurts dominate possession in the middle third for a spell but are unable to settle on the ball or find an opening to get it forward as various Milan players swarm around them like angry bees.
32 min: Kulusevski receives the ball out on the right touchline but is once again unable to get the better of Malick Thiaw, who robs him of possession and advances upfield. The ref blows for a stoppage so Sandro Tonali, who is on the floor, can receive treatment. Tottenham’s players are unhappy because the AC Milan midfielder didn’t have a head injury.
30 min: Harry Kane goes down holding his face after shipping an accidental arm in the face from Simon Kjaer as the pair contested a Perisic cross to the far post. There’s a short break in play while he receives treatment.
28 min: Rafel Leao glides – and it really does look like he’s gliding – down the inside right for Milan after Son had failed to pick out Harry Kane with a pass. The Portuguese international plays the ball inside but Tottenham clear their lines.
27 min: Emerson tries his luck with a shot from distance but fires the ball straight at Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.
25 min: Son takes what already seems like his 100th set-piece of the game already but his corner delivery is cleared.
