Brahim Diaz celebrates his early goal with Theo Hernandez
AC Milan defeated Tottenham in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, 1-0, thanks to Brahim Diaz’s first goal since October.
Diaz had gone 12 games without scoring for the Serie A champions before shocking Spurs with an early header on Tuesday.
Tottenham had plenty of possession but were unable to find an equalizer on former Inter manager Antonio Conte’s return to San Siro.
Milan had gone seven games without a win before beating Torino last Friday, but Diaz gave them back-to-back victories and a slim lead heading into the second leg on March 8 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Diaz scored in the seventh minute, diving to nod in on the goal-line after Fraser Forster made a brilliant double save to deny the Spaniard and Theo Hernandez.
Spurs responded well to that early blow, but did not create a clear-cut chance until Harry Kane rattled the crossbar just before halftime, 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.
Milan were concerned when goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu appeared to fall on his ankle, and Eric Dier was shown a yellow card, ruling him out of the second leg.
Conte introduced Richarlison with 20 minutes remaining before Charles De Ketelaere and Malick Thiaw squandered great chances to enhance Milan’s advantage with close-range headers.
Tottenham created late pressure, but lacked the quality to salvage a point, leaving them with much to do next month.
What does it imply? Milan has an advantage since the Spurs lack creativity.
This was Milan’s first competitive victory over Spurs in five attempts. in their previous four meetings, they had lost two and drew two. They hadn’t beaten an English team in the Champions League since Arsenal in 2012.
It was also a delicious triumph over Conte, who had won eight of his previous nine matchups versus the Italian.
Diaz puts an end to his goal drought.
Diaz had been without a goal for a long time, but he chose a huge game to end his drought.
The 23-year-old is Milan’s youngest player to score in a Champions League knockout game since Kaka scored against Deportivo La Coruna in the quarter-finals in March 2024, when he was 23 years and 336 days old.
His six-minute-and-24-second goal was Milan’s fastest in a Champions League knockout game since Ronaldinho scored after two minutes and 11 seconds against Manchester United in February 2010.
Son’s difficulties remain.
Tottenham haven’t had Son blazing on all cylinders this season, and he’s struggled to make an impact as Kane has been deprived of service.
Son did not have a single touch inside the Milan box, and Conte must have been tempted to take him off sooner than 81 minutes, when he was replaced by Arnaut Danjuma.
Important Opta Facts
- Tottenham are the first English club to lose four consecutive Champions League knockout round games since Arsenal in 2016 and 2017.
- Milan won their first Champions League knockout game since beating Barcelona 2-0 in the last 16 in February 2013, having lost the previous three.
- Rafael Leao completed nine dribbles in this game, the most in a single Champions League match this season and the most by a Milan player since Opta began tracking this statistic (2003-04).
- Kane made his 66th appearance for Tottenham in major European tournaments, tying him with Hugo Lloris for the most of any Spurs player.
- Son played in his 54th Champions League game, tying him with Park Ji-Sung for the most by an Asian player in the competition’s history.
What’s next?
Milan face Monza in Serie A on Saturday, while Spurs have a home London derby against West Ham on Sunday.
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