 | AC Milan | 0-1 | Tottenham Crouch 80′ |  |
Peter Crouch netted a second-half winner as Tottenham stunned AC Milan, 1-0, in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Milan were forced to change goalkeepers early on when Christian Abbiati sustained a head injury during an aerial challenge from Crouch, with the lanky Spurs forward proving to be a handful for the Italians.
But they rebounded to create the first chance of the game as William Gallas just got in ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to clear the danger, and the Swede then had a penalty appeal waved away after he appeared to be bundled over by Sandro.
Spurs responded and Rafael van der Vaart brought a fingertip save out of Milan’s backup goalkeeper Marco Amelia, while opposite number Heurelho Gomes kept the visitors on level terms with a stunning diving save to keep out a Mario Yepes header.
Milan were fortunate not to go down to 10 men when Mathieu Flamini only saw yellow for a dreadful two-footed lunge on Vedran Corluka that led to the Tottenham defender being stretchered off.
Tempers began to flare and Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso clashed with Spurs assistant manager Joe Jordan on the touchline, and the two would resume hostilities following the game.
Gomes made yet another brilliant save to deny Yepes as the hosts sought an opener, and they were stunned when, with 10 minutes to go, Aaron Lennon raced by Yepes and squared the ball for Crouch to clinically put Spurs ahead.
The hosts thought they had snatched an equaliser in added time when Ibrahimovic netted with an overhead kick, but his ‘goal’ was rightly ruled out for a blatant push on Michael Dawson.
And there were fireworks following the final whistle as Milan midfielder Gattuso again confronted Jordan, and the Italian appeared to head-butt the 59-year-old before the two men were separated.
