Champions League, Milan 1-0 Tottenham: Diaz gives Rossoneri slender lead

Diaz
had
gone
12
games
without
a
goal
for
the
Serie
A
champions
but
stunned
Spurs
with
an
early
header
on
Tuesday
(February
14).

Tottenham
saw
plenty
of
the
ball
but
were
unable
to
come
up
with
an
equaliser
on
former
Inter
boss
Antonio
Conte’s
return
to
San
Siro.

Milan
had
been
without
a
win
in
seven
matches
before
beating
Torino
last
Friday,
but
Diaz
gave
them
back-to-back
victories
and
a
slender
advantage
to
take
into
the
second
leg
at
Tottenham
Hotspur
Stadium
on
March
8.

San
Siro
erupted
when
Diaz
opened
the
scoring
in
the
seventh
minute,
diving
to
nod
in
on
the
goal-line
after
Fraser
Forster
produced
a
brilliant
double
save
to
deny
the
Spaniard
and
Theo
Hernandez.

Spurs
responded
well
to
that
early
blow,
though
did
not
create
a
clear-cut
opportunity
until
Harry
Kane
rattled
the
crossbar
just
before
the
break,
but
an
offside
flag
against
Son
Heung-Min
meant
the
striker’s
effort
would
not
have
counted
if
it
had
found
the
back
of
the
net.

There
was
concern
for
Milan
when
goalkeeper
Ciprian
Tatarusanu
appeared
to
go
over
on
his
ankle
before
Eric
Dier
was
shown
a
yellow
card
that
will
rule
him
out
of
the
second
leg.

Conte
introduced
Richarlison
with
20
minutes
to
go
before
Charles
De
Ketelaere
and
Malick
Thiaw
wasted
glorious
chances
to
extend
Milan’s
lead
with
headers
from
close
range.

Tottenham
applied
some
late
pressure,
but
lacked
the
quality
to
salvage
a
draw
and
have
work
to
do
next
month.

What
does
it
mean?
Advantage
Milan
as
Spurs
lack
invention

This
was
a
first
victory
for
Milan
in
a
competitive
game
against
Spurs
in
five
attempts.
having
lost
two
and
drawn
as
many
in
their
previous
four
meetings.
They
had
not
defeated
an
English
side
in
the
Champions
League
since
beating
Arsenal
back
in
2012.

It
was
also
a
sweet
victory
over
Conte,
who
had
come
out
on
top
in
eight
of
his
past
nine
matches
against
the
Rossoneri.

Tottenham
were
hammered
4-1
at
Leicester
City
in
the
Premier
League
last
Saturday
and
will
need
more
creativity
in
order
to
mount
a
fightback
in
London
and
reach
the
quarter-finals.

Diaz
ends
goal
drought

It
has
been
a
long
wait
for
a
goal
for
Diaz,
but
he
picked
a
big
game
to
end
his
drought.

The
23-year-old
is
the
youngest
player
to
score
for
Milan
in
a
Champions
League
knockout
game
since
Kaka
struck
against
Deportivo
La
Coruna
at
the
quarter-final
stage
when
he
was
23
years
and
336
days
old
in
March
2024.

His
goal,
timed
at
six
minutes
and
24
seconds,
was
the
fastest
for
Milan
in
a
Champions
League
knockout
game
since
Ronaldinho
netted
after
two
minutes
and
11
seconds
against
Manchester
United
in
February
2010.

Son’s
struggles
continue

Tottenham
have
not
had
Son
firing
on
all
cylinders
this
season
and
he
failed
to
make
his
presence
felt
as
Kane
was
starved
of
service.

Son
did
not
have
a
single
touch
inside
the
Milan
box
and
Conte
must
have
been
tempted
to
haul
him
off
earlier
than
when
he
was
replaced
by
Arnaut
Danjuma
after
81
minutes.

Key
Opta
Facts

–
Tottenham
are
the
first
English
side
to
lose
four
Champions
League
knockout
stage
games
in
a
row
since
Arsenal
between
2016
and
2017.

–
Milan
enjoyed
their
first
Champions
League
knockout
victory
since
beating
Barcelona
2-0
in
February
2013
in
the
last
16,
losing
each
of
the
three
since
then.

–
Rafael
Leao
completed
nine
dribbles
in
this
game,
the
most
by
a
player
in
a
single
match
in
the
Champions
League
this
season
and
the
most
by
a
Milan
player
since
Opta
started
collecting
this
data
(2003-04).

–
Kane
made
his
66th
appearance
for
Tottenham
in
major
European
competitions,
the
joint-most
of
any
Spurs
player,
level
with
Hugo
Lloris.

–
Son
appeared
in
his
54th
game
in
the
Champions
League,
the
joint-most
of
any
Asian
player
in
the
history
of
the
competition,
level
with
Park
Ji-Sung.

What’s
next?

Milan
face
Monza
in
Serie
A
on
Saturday
(February
18),
while
Spurs
have
a
home
London
derby
against
West
Ham
on
Sunday
(February
19).