Milan beat Tottenham in the Champions League
This victory helps the reigning Serie A champion to take advantage of the knock-out match against the opponent from the English Premier League. Milan hope, after an 11-year absence, to return to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the tournament they are second in the number of times won (seven), just behind Real Madrid (14).
The decisive goal of the match was scored in the 7th minute, from Brahim Diaz's finish. Before that, Tottenham's number two goalkeeper Fraser Forster made two excellent saves against shots from Theo Hernandez and Diaz. But when the Spanish midfielder dashed into the near-field, Forster was defeated and could not be stopped.
The goal made Diaz, 23 years and 195 days old, the youngest player to score for Milan in a Champions League knockout tie since Kaka in March 2004, with a brace in the quarter-final against Deportivo de La Coruna at the age of 21 and 336 days.
Tottenham responded, but despite holding the ball slightly better (52%), the visitors did not create any noticeable threatening situations in the first half. In the 45th minute, Son Heung-min escaped to receive Dejan Kulusevski's pass. His narrow shot was saved by Ciprian Tatarusanu and Harry Kane hit the bar. But if there is, the table will not be recognized because Son is offside.
The two teams continued to struggle after the break. A few mistakes began to appear in the Milan defense. However, midfielder Simon Kjaer constantly has experienced cover situations to correct mistakes for his teammates. 78 minutes, the home team missed a golden opportunity to widen the gap. From Olivier Giroud's header, substitute midfielder Charles De Ketelaere shot past Forster but was saved by Ivan Perisic before the goal line.
It can be said that Tottenham was lucky to leave with only one goal difference. Because not long after, they avoided conceding a second time when young center-back Malick Thiaw headed out of the box despite a comfortable position. In a late counterattack, Rafael Leao's error control movement also caused the home team to lose another chance.
This victory is Milan's sweet revenge, because they lost 0-1 to Tottenham in the last time they met in the second leg of the 1/8 Champions League round of 2010-2011 and then were eliminated. For Antonio Conte, this is the second time he has failed in 12 matches against compatriot Stefano Pioli. The first was on October 17, 2020, when Milan beat Inter thanks to a brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who returned to the bench for the first time since May 2022 but has not played.
The two teams will have to wait a month to replay the second leg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the evening of March 8.
