LONDON, Feb 15: An early goal was enough for troubled AC Milan to edge Tottenham 1-0 in its first Champions League knockout match in nearly 10 years.
Brahim Diaz netted in the seventh minute on Tuesday to give Milan a slender advantage to take to London when the teams meet again in the second leg of the round of 16 on March 8.
But the Rossoneri could be left counting the cost of two late missed opportunities that their coach thought were going to end up in the back of the net.
“2-0 would have been a better result clearly because we are sure that the return match will be as close, as difficult.
“But I can’t be anything but happy with the team’s performance today.” It was a miserable return to San Siro for Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, who endured only his second loss against Milan in 15 matches as coach. The former Inter Milan and Juventus coach had engineered 10 victories over the Rossoneri.
“I’m not disappointed with the performance,” Conte said.
It was also Tottenham’s second straight defeat since Conte returned to the dugout following gallbladder surgery. Spurs lost 4-1 at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.
For Milan, it is a further sign that things might be turning around after a tough run. Milan was winless in its past seven matches, including losing its previous four matches, before Friday’s 1-0 win over Torino.
That run had seen the defending Serie A champion fall 18 points behind league leader Napoli, get knocked out of the Italian Cup and lose the Italian Super Cup to bitter rival Inter.
“Progressing to the next stage would give our season a lot more sense and positivity,” Pioli said.
The match at San Siro was Milan’s first in the Champions League knockout stage since 2014. It hasn’t reached the quarterfinals since 2012.
And the Rossoneri got their return off to the perfect start. Théo Hernandez saw his shot parried by Fraser Forster and Tottenham’s goalkeeper then did brilliantly to claw away Diaz’s effort from the rebound but the Milan midfielder bundled in from point-blank range on the second attempt.
In a tight match, there were few goalscoring opportunities and neither goalkeeper was really tested.
Ciprian Tataruanu, who faced criticism during Milan’s dismal run, pulled off a fantastic double save on the stroke of halftime. He did well to deny Son Heung-min then even better to clear the danger after Harry Kane’s follow-up came off the underside of the crossbar. However, it wouldn’t have counted anyway as Son had been offside.
Milan should have wrapped up the win in the final 12 minutes but first substitute Charles De Ketelaere saw his close-range header cleared by Spurs midfielder Ivan Perisic and shortly afterward Malick Thiaw headed narrowly wide of the left post from six yards out.
Coman secures win
Not even Kylian Mbappe’s substitute appearance could end Paris Saint-Germain’s slump, as it lost 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their round-of-16 Champions League clash.
A third straight loss made it five defeats in 11 games this year for PSG coach Christophe Galtier’s team.
Bayern winger Kingsley Coman volleyed home inside the penalty area from Alphonso Davies’ left-wing cross in the 53rd minute on Tuesday.
The Paris-raised Coman, who PSG sold to Juventus when he was 18, held his hands up to show he wasn’t celebrating scoring against his former club – again.
“Given our performance we could have done more, but at the end it was a bit difficult so we’re satisfied with the win.” When Bayern won the last of its six Champions League titles in 2020, it beat PSG 1-0 with Coman heading home the winner.
The World Cup superstar Mbappé made an unexpectedly quick recovery from injury and had two would-be goals disallowed for offside after coming on in the second half.
The return leg is on March 8.PSG was eliminated by Real Madrid in the last 16 last season and may need Mbappé at this best to avoid another early exit.
“We have to retain how we finished the game. We saw that we can cause them problems.” Mbappé showed no ill effects of the thigh tear he sustained two weeks ago.
He had a shot saved by Yann Sommer in the 73rd after racing through down the left. Sommer saved Neymar’s follow-up and the ball fell to Mbappé near the line, but he was well offside.
Mbappé peeled away in delight after volleying Nuno Mendes’ cross from close range with 10 minutes left, but it was chalked off following a quick video review.
“That’s the new soccer, there’s VAR. If it’s offside, it’s offside, you just have to switch quickly,” Mbappé said.
“The important thing is to go over there and qualify, and from what I saw that’s possible.” Bayern’s defence held firm under some late pressure, although defender Benjamin Pavard received a second yellow card was sent off for a late tackle on Lionel Messi in stoppage time.
Bayern immediately generated pressure from the start against a nervous-looking PSG by closing down high up the field. PSG hadn’t lost three straight games since late 2011, which was only months into the new reign of Qatari owners QSI.
“I knew we could use Kylian in the second half, but unfortunately we conceded this goal just before I was going to bring him on.” The dominance of Julian Nagelsmann’s team in midfield was so complete that it forced Messi to drop deep to get the ball, and Neymar was anonymous for most of the match.
“The two times they really threatened it was offside.” Midway through the first half, Neymar lay face-first on the field after a shoulder barge from a defender. English referee Michael Oliver waved play on and Sommer – although nearby – didn’t check on Neymar, who at the 2018 World Cup in Russia earned an unwelcome reputation for diving and play-acting.
Nagelsmann showed shrewd tactical sense by bringing on Davies and switching Coman from the left to the right flank with seamless efficiency.
Bayern came close to 2-0 Choupo-Moting had a shot tipped onto the post by Donnarumma. (PTI)
