Brahim Diaz’s early purpose condemned Tottenham to a 1-0 loss towards AC Milan within the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at San Siro.
Former Manchester Metropolis winger Diaz bundled house from shut vary after seven minutes and Spurs have been lucky to not fall additional behind within the closing levels when Milan spurned two superb headed probabilities by way of Charles De Ketelaere and Malick Thiaw.
As an alternative, Antonio Conte will probably be relieved to return to north London with a deficit of just one purpose having been pressured to discipline a central midfield pairing of Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr because of Rodrigo Bentancur’s harm and the suspension of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Skipp and Sarr carried out properly in troublesome circumstances on their full Champions League debuts however, in a largely cagey encounter, Spurs, crushed 4-1 by Leicester within the Premier League on Saturday, have been unable to create any clear scoring probabilities.
Their personnel points will proceed within the second leg on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with a yellow card to Eric Dier that means he’ll miss out by way of suspension, however the one-goal margin of defeat means the tie continues to be open for Conte and his gamers.
How Milan claimed their win
Conte claimed a few of his gamers battle to deal with strain after the 4-1 loss to Leicester and, at a hostile San Siro, Milan’s early opener appeared to supply additional proof.
Brahim Diaz scored AC Milan’s successful purpose towards Tottenham
The purpose got here after Theo Hernandez beat Cristian Romero to an extended cross on the left and compelled a parry from Forster, who then acrobatically saved Diaz’s follow-up, just for the winger to pressure the free ball into the web with a diving header.
Spurs have been having to work exhausting to include the harmful Rafael Leao however they slowly settled into the sport after the early purpose, inflicting issues for the hosts with a sequence of set-piece deliveries, albeit with out creating any clear probabilities within the first half.
The second interval started with a let-off for the reckless Romero, who was solely booked, with VAR upholding the choice to not ship him off, after he went flying into Sandro Tonali as Milan sprang ahead on the counter-attack.
The sport continued to comply with the same sample after that, with Leao the one participant offering a spark and Spurs struggling to show their possession into scoring alternatives.
Conte threw on Richarlison for Dejan Kulusevski in an try to extend his aspect’s attacking risk however all they may muster have been occasional half-chances, with Sarr sending a long-range effort straight at Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.
The hosts then had two golden alternatives to ram house their benefit, with De Ketekaerem, on instead solely moments earlier, heading tamely extensive after Oliver Giroud had nodded a cross again into the hazard space, and defender Thiaw then doing the identical when picked out by Leao in an excellent higher place.
Dier failed to attach correctly with a header of his personal, from a nook, as Spurs tried to punish these Milan misses on the different finish of the pitch, however they by no means actually appeared like scoring.
What’s next for Spurs?
Sunday nineteenth February 4:00pm
Kick off 4:30pm
Tottenham return to Premier League motion with a house recreation towards West Ham, stay on Sky Sports activities Premier League on Sunday from 3.30pm; kick-off 4.30pm.
Spurs will play the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with AC Milan on Wednesday March 8 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; kick-off 8pm.
