AC Milan v Tottenham Hotspur: live
Follow minute-by-minute commentary of the Champions League last-16 first leg between AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur at San Siro, Milan on Tuesday, February 15 2011.
LIVE
REPORT
MILAN
0 - 1
FT
TOTTENHAM
Tuesday, February 15 19:45
Champions League
Giuseppe Meazza
(HT 0-0)
Crouch (80)
Little impact: Zlatan Ibrahimovic did little of note for Milan Photo: REUTERS
By Jonathan Liew 10:13PM GMT 15 Feb 2011
Jonathan's Twitter
Comments
COMMENTARY
KEY MOMENTS
WRAP: So it's arrivederci from the San Siro. A super game, but you've got to ask: what does it say about Serie A if that's the team that's currently top of it? Milan's big names shirked the fight, apart from one guy who got a bit carried away and thought he was Roberto Duran. If someone had presented Rino Gattuso with a smiling baby during that second half, he would have slapped it. He was in that kind of mood. Meanwhile, Tottenham one giant step closer to the quarter-finals. Could we be seeing a fairytale to match that of Leeds United a decade ago? By which I mean, in three years' time will Tottenham be staving off both administration and relegation to League One, and be managed by Eddie Gray?
See you tomorrow for Arsenal v Barca, y'all...
21.57 Sky show Redknapp that challenge by Flamini on Corluka. "That's a red card," he splutters. "How can that not be a red card? They need to look at that. That's a disgrace." But he lightens up when he sees a replay of Gattuso flying at the Tottenham bench like a leopard pouncing on a ham sandwich. "Of all the people to pick on, don't pick on Joe," Redknapp chuckles. He doesn't add the words "when you've got Clive Allen standing next to him", but he scarcely needs to.
21.54 "We always knew if we got a break away we could get that away goal." Lennon says. Meanwhile, Crouch is sanguine about his feat of winding-up Rino Gattuso so hard he actually ceased to be human. "That's always been his game," Crouchy says, eating his metaphorical nachos. "Luckily I didn't rise to it."
21.51 Let's get you some reaction. Here's Peter Crouch and Aaron Lennon.
Paul Kelso on Twitter: "Unless I'm mistaken, Joe Jordan still has a word or two of Italian." He only needed two, by the looks of things.
21.46 But back to the main story tonight. Tottenham have conquered the San Siro! What a wonderful effort by Harry Redknapp's team, who will now be strong favourites to close out the deal at the Olympic Stadium White Hart Lane. Sandro, Van der Vaart, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, all excellent. Not only did they beat the great AC Milan; they drove them up the wall.
21.45 Goodness gracious, that was hilarious.
21.44 Eventually Yepes and Ibrahimovic and a bunch of far more sensible souls drag Gattuso away and hustle him down the tunnel. Crouch follows him with a cheeky smile.
21.43 Gattuso head-butts Joe Jordan! What on earth has he got against Joe Jordan? And just how crazy is he? Does he know he's trying to fight Jaws here?
FULL TIME AC Milan 0-1 Tottenham Gattuso's gone off-piste! He's lashing out at everyone he can see!
90+4 min DISALLOWED GOAL (Milan) What's that for? Nobody knows! Ibrahimovic with a stunning bicycle kick low into the corner, but the goal-line official has his flag up! And that's it!
90+3 min Robinho has a shot blocked from four yards! Corner to AC Milan! Amelia's coming up for it!
90+2 min Crucial challenge by Assou-Ekotto on Robinho! If he'd got that wrong, it would have been a penalty for sure!
90+1 min Modric and Kranjcar try to keep the ball in the corner, but given they've got a combined weight of about nine stone, it doesn't take long for Milan to muscle them off.
90 min If Tottenham could pick one man to see this game out, it would be Modric. Or perhaps He-Man. But Kranjcar dispossesses the wretched Yepes and races towards goal! His cross is scuffed, but it's a corner!
89 min The crowd are filing out of the exits. Four minutes of added time! Can Tottenham cling on? Nothing we've seen so far would suggest they can't...
88 min Now, Milan have numbers over on the left. Ibrahimovic pulls the trigger... and by George, that's a shocker. Gomes is almost bemused as he watches it sail by, much as James Bond might watch one of Blofeld's goons falling off a cliff.
86 min Robinho shoots tamely wide. "Greetings from minus 25C Finland, Jonathan," writes Roger Noel Smith. "Watching the print appear is like the anticipation in fishing. Crouch's goal is a monster pike."
85 min AC Milan can't get the ball! I've lost count of the passes. Thirty? Forty? The seven-time champions are being humiliated in their own backyard! The Tottenham fans, predictably, are in Utopia.
84 min It's a matter of keep-ball for Tottenham now. They're so close. Modric and Palacios knock the ball around languorously in midfield. That's excellent, level-headed football by Tottenham.
82 min Look at how the Milan heads have dropped. There are over 70,000 AC Milan fans in that stadium, and the only song you can hear at the moment is 'When The Spurs Go Marching In'. Oh, and Mark Ronson. Who's got the Brits on in the background?
81 min Henry Winter uses exclamation marks about as often as he uses the bus! That's how vital that goal was!
Henry Winter on Twitter: "Sensational... Lennon raced down right, squared to Crouch!!!!"
79 min GOAL Milan 0-1 Tottenham (Crouch) IT'S A GOAL! Milan suckered on the break! Tottenham with a golden chance to conquer the San Siro! Lennon bursts free, and it's two on two. Except it's practically two on one when one of them is Yepes. He lunges in wildly on Lennon, who can simply knock the ball past him and square the ball for Crouch. Crouch shook off the attentions of Nesta and slotted the ball home from 10 yards!
78 min This midfield area, which is increasingly beginning to resemble the first day of the Somme, or at the very least the first day of the Ikea sale, is no place for a slight Croatian. Modric is bustled off the ball.
77 min Sandro gives the ball away. They're getting pushed further and further back, are Tottenham. Are they flagging a little?
Ian Chadband on Twitter: "Gattuso is an absurd, growling panto villain. Joe Jordan, even now, could take him in two rounds. Oh yes he could..."
75 min Gattuso lunges at Pienaar from behind! He's committed enough offences so far to get him a court summons, let alone a card. And yet the government persecutes innocent, law-abiding motorists, while thugs like Gattuso are free to roam the streets... In fact, Gattuso does get booked for this one, a decision he takes with a surly swing of the right arm.
74 min Here he is, though, with the ball on the right. Antonini's been covering his runs a lot better in this half, and Lennon has to go backwards. The ball swings out left to Assou-Ekotto, and then Palacios gives the ball away.
72 min Gallas gives the ball away! This could be trouble for Tottenham, but Sandro gets in a vital challenge to put it out for a throw. He's had a great game. Palacios, he's had a great game. Lennon, meanwhile, hasn't been seen since about the eighth minute of the game.
71 min Again Milan hoist the ball into the area. They're as purposeful in this second half as they were anaemic in the first. Great defensive header by Sandro, and Assou-Ekotto can complete the clearance.
70 min Crouch with the header! It's weak, though, and straight at Amelia. And Milan break! Robinho lays it off to Flamini, and his shot is deflected for a corner.
69 min Now, free-kick for Tottenham on the right. Dawson and Gallas venture upfield. Modric is going to take it...
67 min Gattuso's lost his mind! How is he still on the pitch? He goes up for a header with Crouch, lashes out with an arm, and as Crouch catches the ball after an offside whistle, Gattuso snatches the ball out of his arms and then shoves him in the chest! Again, nobody sees it!
66 min Another escape for Tottenham! The cross comes in from the right, it runs over an identified foot and Dawson hacks it away about three yards off the line.
Henry Winter on Twitter: "Kicking off now. Flamini should have gone for horrible challenge on Corluka. Gattuso just pushed ex-Milan Joe Jordan in face"
64 min We've seen precious little threat by Tottenham so far in this half, and after the first-half they've had, it would be a real disappointment if they went home without an away goal. And Pato's almost in. Almost.
62 min Rafael van der Vaart comes off - he missed the Sunderland game on Saturday with injury, and probably wasn't 100 per cent tonight. Luka Modric comes on to replace him, and that's not a bad name to bring off the bench. Like having your lead guitarist pull out just before a gig and being able to replace him with Carlos Santana.
61 min Yepes takes out his frustration on Wilson Palacios and earns himself a booking.
60 min Great save by Gomes, and he keeps Tottenham in the game again! It was a flying headed effort at the back post from an unmarked Yepes after a short corner on the Milan right, and Gomes did excellently. Dawson hooks it away.
58 min It's still pretty heated out there. Redknapp and his assistant Joe Jordan having a little chip at Gattuso on the touchline, and Gattuso responds by shoving Jordan in the face! He'd have been off if any of the officials had seen that! This is getting a trifle picante, no?
56 min The Tottenham and AC Milan players faced off amusingly for a little while, in a sort of "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah!" fashion. Corluka is lifted off the pitch - down to the even barer bones for Harry Redknapp - and Jonathan Woodgate comes on. After 18 long months, Woodgate emerges from the injury wilderness. That's always nice to see.
54 min And Flamini flies two-footed into Corluka on the left touchline! He's got to go for that! He's got to! Yellow card! In an instant, referee Stephane Lannoy is swamped by white shirts. Van der Vaart gives Ibrahimovic a little prod in the chest, and they glower at each other for a while. Corluka's still getting treatment, and the stretcher's being called for...
53 min Free-kick about 35 yards out for Tottenham. Is Rafael van der Genius going to have a go? He is, you know! It's straight at Amelia, though!
52 min Shouts of handball as Dawson challenges Pato on the edge of the area! Again, nothing given! Pato's instantly brought a greater urgency to Milan, though. It looks like he's going up top with Ibrahimovic, with Robinho dropping back into the 'ole.
51 min Van der Vaart shoots well over the bar from 20 yards. He was in a good deal of space, though. Could open out pretty sweetly, this game.
50 min: What a save from Gomes! Yepes ran on to Robinho's chip in the box and powered a header at the top corner from eight yards out but Gomes threw out a hand a turned it over. This game is starting to heat up, thankfully.
48 min: Lennon dinks it in from the right and there doesn't seem any immediate danger but Van der Vaart, twists away from the defender and chips it narrowly over Amelia but wide. So close!
46 min: The Brazilian Pato has come on to replace Clarence Seedorf. Quite why he didn't start I don't know, but he'll surely offer more of an attacking threat than the Dutch master/BBC pundit.
20.39 Phil Siegelman on email: "As a Spurs fan reading eagerly from the south-east US, I definitely appreciate the use of 'y'all'! Hope the Spurs can keep it up in the second. Hopefully Kranjcar for Sandro or Pienaar can make a difference in the scoreline." Couple of touchdowns should make the difference, I reckon.
HALF-TIME AC Milan 0-0 Tottenham Thiago Silva and Sandro swap shirts at half-time. Bit strange, that. I imagine Thiago's all right, they'll have plenty of spares in the Milan kit room, but Sandro's going to look a bit stupid walking out in his wife-beater at the start of the second half, going up to Thiago, and whispering... "Mate, you wouldn't still have... would you?"
45+1 min We're going to have only two minutes of injury time. Assou-Ekotto tries to find Van der Vaart in the left channel, but that's misplaced. Half-time, y'all.
45 min We're going to have quite a bit of injury time, I'd reckon, as a result of that injury to Abbiati. Should Tottenham have a lead to match their impressive first-half display? It could be argued that way...
43 min That's lovely! Seedorf tricks Corluka and tries to release Antonini down the left. It trickles straight over the goal-line. That just about sums Milan's night up so far.
41 min That's the closest Milan have come! Abate slams the accelerator on and gets the cross in from the right. Gomes saves with three Milan players bearing down on him. If I'm not mistaken, that's the first save he's had to make all game.
39 min Now, Lennon, in acres of space. Can he find the cross? Oh, that's awful! It almost goes out of play on the opposite touchline without bouncing! Lennon could be a real gem if he could just sort out his crossing. And as all good midwives know, it doesn't matter how good your performance is if you mess up the delivery.
38 min Milan go route one, trying to find Ibrahimovic. Gallas heads it calmly on to Gomes. That's the ultimate sign that the Milan cupboard is empty.
36 min Seedorf tries an elegant back-heel on the right-wing, makes a complete risotto of it, and the Milan fans jeer and whistle! They're turning on their own team here!
35 min Abate races down the right, opening up his legs and showing his class. Assou-Ekotto races with him, and eventually manages to shepherd him out of play for a goal-kick.
34 min Oh, that's lovely from Van der Vaart, skipping clear of Gattuso, playing it to Pienaar, getting it back and then swinging a cross in. Nesta gets up to clear.
32 min Milan have had a little more possession in the last few minutes. They're just feeling their way into this game. Tottenham haven't quite been able to maintain their early threat. Perhaps it's time to adjust those predictions. Sack Redknapp! Actually, sack the lot of them! And you know as well as I do that Egypt can't handle democracy!
30 min Aw, that was a bit soft. Dawson feathers Robinho and gives away a free-kick. Ibrahimovic is going to line it up from about 30 yards. Here he comes... and it's wide. Gomes can simply watch it go by.
28 min There's simply been no urgency to Milan. At least, not until they get into the final third, and they haven't done too much of that so far. There's been no urgency to Tottenham, either, but in a good way. They haven't plunged headlong into their assault, losing their shape. They've been patient, diligent, measured, but since Abbiati's injury they're yet to test the new goalkeeper.
26 min All right, all right, let's not start picking out potential quarter-final opponents for Tottenham just yet. Although if we are going to tempt fate, why not really push the boat out? A Tottenham v Arsenal final! At Wembley! With Sian Massey refereeing! And democracy for Egypt! And Burma! And North Korea!
Mark Ogden on Twitter: "If you had to pick an overrated XI, Robinho and Ibrahimovic would be the strikers. Spurs have nothing to worry about."
24 min Sandro and Pienaar exchange passes on the Tottenham left. Pienaar tries to play it through for Crouch, but he's around six yards offside, and knows it too.
22 min Milan want a penalty as Sandro piles into the back of Ibrahimovic! Not given! That's a real escape for Tottenham, it looked like a stonewaller.
21 min It's headed away, but as it comes back in from Assou-Ekotto Tottenham have around three men unmarked at the back post! It pinballs around the area for a bit before Milan eventually clear it. At the moment, it's Tottenham who are looking like the seven-time European champions, and Milan who look like a team that lost at home to Wigan this season.
20 min First real sign of danger from Milan! Ibrahimovic pulls the ball across the area, and Gallas has to clear on the stretch. At the other end, Lennon again teases Antonini on the Tottenham right, and wins a corner off him. Pienaar to take.
18 min Eventually we're under way again. Amelia gets his first touch as Nesta passes the ball back to him. As soon as Milan get the ball, Tottenham are organising themselves into a tight defensive formation and pressing as a unit. Eventually a frustrated Robinho punts the ball straight out of play.
16 min And Abbiati's going to come off. Big blow for Milan, that. Marco Amelia's going to replace him, but there's going to be further delay as he's not quite ready to come on yet. Hardly surprising, as he probably thought he was going to be spending the evening watching from the bench with a packet of Haribo.
15 min Now Abbiati's taken a blow on that bald head of his. He leapt to pluck the ball off Crouch's head, and as they both fell Crouch's shoulder caught his head. This doesn't look too good for Milan.
14 min I think it was Nesta who headed that corner away. But Tottenham have the ball back, and they're passing the ball around with real confidence.
13 min Assou-Ekotto with a deep cross, and at the moment the Milan defence seem more preoccupied with marvelling over Crouch's size than trying to get the ball off him. Crouch's header is blocked for a corner.
11 min Van der Vaart with the shot after Crouch chests down another cross from Corluka! It's deflected, and runs kindly for Abbiati. Tottenham are all over Milan like a pizza topping here.
10 min Abbiati rescues Milan again! Sparkling ball from Corluka for Lennon, who raced outside Antonini and whipped a cross in, and Abbiati parried it off a Milan defender and out of danger. Van der Vaart reckons that caught a Milan hand on the way out, but it's play on.
9 min Ibrahimovic plays a clever reversed one-two with Robinho, and he's through on goal. But he's offside. Little reminder for Tottenham of what AC Milan are capable of.
8 min And Crouch was in acres of space there! Lennon gets to the byline, his cross is headed away, it comes back in from Corluka, and with Crouch completely unmarked, Abbiati scrambles desperately out and punches it away!
7 min Gallas bustles Robinho off the ball. Goal kick to Tottenham.
6 min Again Tottenham getting into dangerous areas. Van der Vaart fouls Seedorf, though, and Milan can have a bit of a breather.
4 min This is a strong start from Tottenham, who were already about 5-2 down by this stage against Inter Milan. Corluka gets into an advanced position and crosses for Crouch again. Abbiati saves.
2 min Crouch is offside. But the ball comes back straight away from Tottenham, again trying to find the head of Crouch, and this time referee Stephane Lannoy rules that Crouch is backing into Abbiati. Bright start by Tottenham though, this.
Paul Kelso on Twitter: "Big night for Sandro. Wonder if pace of Champions League may suit him."
1 min Good start by Tottenham! Van der Vaart and Pienaar - preferred to the eternal bridesmaid Niko Kranjcar - combine on the left and Pienaar whips a thigh-high cross into the area. It's cleared away for a corner.
19.45 First sight of Harry Redknapp, busily getting drenched on the touchline, the copy of the Racing Post sticking out of his side pocket turning to pulp. All right, he doesn't have a copy of the Racing Post sticking out of his pocket. But he could have done. That's the kind of freewheeling maverick our Harry is. Right, we're off.
19.42 Rain in Milan tonight. Lots of this. I suppose you could draw all kinds of conclusions from that. Perhaps the slick surface will suit Spurs's more direct passing style. Perhaps Peter Crouch, as the first man on the pitch to get rained on, will be affected more than most. Perhaps the ball will get wet. Stuff like that.
19.40 It's Jeff Stelling on Sky for us tonight. From the sound of it, he's lost his voice a little. The teams are in the tunnel. William Gallas and Mathieu Flamini share a warm embrace in the tunnel. All right, lay off that.
19.35 What do we reckon? Can Tottenham pull this one out of the bag? Or will AC Milan - who have looked in impressive form of late in Serie A - pick them off? Do drop us a line.
19.15 Milan line up pretty much as expected, with Robinho preferred to Alexandre Pato. For Tottenham, Luka Modric misses the starting XI but makes the bench after being laid low by an appendix-related illness thing, Peter Crouch takes the lone striker role ahead of Jermain Defoe, and there's the heartening sight of Jonathan Woodgate on the bench. The last time he played for Tottenham, they won 9-1. I'm not sure that's strictly relevant, but, you know.
19.10 Hands up. When Tottenham were 3-0 down after half an hour against Young Boys, who thought we would see this moment? Tottenham's Champions League journey to this point has been the metaphorical topsy-turvy, up-and-down, never-dull, all-action, roller-coaster/thrill ride/soap opera/see-saw. It's the San Siro again for them, as they take on the mighty-but-not-quite-as-mighty-as-they-were AC Milan. Stricken by injuries (to his team, not himself), Harry Redknapp has pledged all-out attack, vowing to 'have a right go'. Of course, it might have been one of those Redknapp-esque, twinkle-in-the-eye quips (for which read: outright lie) for which he is becoming renowned. But if Tottenham do give it a go, it should be quite a contest. Right, let's get some team news before I break the hyphen key on my keyboard.
AC Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Yepes, Antonini; Gattuso, Thiago Silva, Flamini; Seedorf; Robinho, Ibrahimovic.
Subs: Amelia, Pato, Papastathopoulos, Oddo, Jankulovski, Merkel, Legrottaglie.
Tottenham (4-4-1-1): Gomes; Corluka, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Sandro, Pienaar; Van der Vaart; Crouch.
Subs: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Modric, Defoe, Bassong, Kranjcar, Woodgate.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder