Crouch stuns AC Milan Now They Have A Mountain To Climb

MILAN, 15 February 2011 – It was a shot he had been waiting to fire since 23 May 2007, when he lost the Champions League final to AC Milan as a Liverpool player in Athens. Peter Crouch netted the winner in the last-16 first leg against AC Milan, giving Tottenham a goal worth its weight in gold to take back to London. Ruthless, cynical, call it what you will, Redknapp's side dominated proceedings in the first half (when the Rossoneri lost Abbiati) then twice almost went behind after the break before grabbing the winner with a classic counter-attacking move. A gargantuan blow for AC Milan, who now face an uphill struggle in London. Make that a mountain to climb.

ALLEGRI OPTS FOR ROBINHO — What Ibra says, Allegri does. On the eve of the game, the Swedish frontman had sung the praises of Robinho and his infinite enthusiasm for the game. The AC Milan coach, who had the Brazilian in a toss-up with Pato, appeased his star striker and stuck Seedorf in the hole behind the front two. With the Dutchman's experience, the ex-City player's guile and the Swede's ingrained hunger, Allegri hoped his side would find the goals they needed to make the trip to London with a bounce in their step. With a threadbare midfield, the coach pushed Thiago Silva forward in front of the defence alongside Gattuso and Flamini and drafted Yepes in alongside Nesta. On the flanks, Abate and Antonini were handed the task of shackling Lennon and Pienaar. Harry Redknapp, without Bale, surprisingly left Kranjcar on the bench and went for Crouch over Pavlyuchenko.

 

Christian Abbiati is stretchered off. Ap

SPURS GO ON THE ATTACK — Tottenham seemed to have struck the perfect balance, as they wheeled out the heavy cavalry that had AC Milan on the back pedal from the off. In the first twenty minutes the horses charged in one direction only, Spurs' assaults being repelled by the home side with their hind legs. AC Milan looked out of their depth on their own battleground. With just 45 seconds on the clock, a cross by Pienaar was deflected by Nesta's arm. Lannoy let play continue. Then Abbiati took centre stage, both for good and for bad reasons: on 9 and 11 minutes he punched the ball clear from Crouch, who was picked out time and time again by Lennon, the winger giving Antonini a real runaround as he skipped past him at almost every attempt. Then, in the 18th minute following a mid-air clash, Abbiati went to the ground and had to leave the pitch on a stretcher, with Amelia replacing him. It was a tough blow for AC Milan, who thus lost a reassuring presence behind their back line under bombardment. It wasn't until the 21st minute that the Rossoneri mustered their first move of real note: a nifty exchange between Robinho and Ibra led to the Swede's low cross being blocked by Gomes. And that was about it. Scaling the defensive wall put up by Palacios and Sandro was a challenge in itself; when they did, marshal Dawson and his wily sidekick Gallas were on hand to beat away everything thrown at them - they may not be blessed with pace but they proved impenetrable. The Rossoneri didn't help their own cause. Seedorf was sluggish and completely ineffectual against Her Majesty's army. But the Dutchman wasn't the only one at fault. Thiago Silva was off the pace in the middle of the park and Van der Vaart and co. sliced through him with ease. So Milan's weaknesses came to the fore: they were easy pickings in midfield and found all routes barred in attack, where Ibra and Robinho were being man-marked out of the game.

YEPES VS GOMES — Allegri took it all on board at half time and altered his front-line tactics: Pato on for Seedorf. Yet it was Tottenham who produced the first chance four minutes after the restart, with Van der Vaart's delightful deft chip from the edge of the area drifting inches wide of Amelia's left-hand post. AC Milan struck back immediately when Yepes's header was miraculously snatched away from the top corner by Gomes. His touch seemed all the more miraculous when he pushed away Yepes' second headed attempt with a reflex gesture on the hour. Faster and more aggressive, the Rossoneri were now in the ascendency while Spurs, in need of oxygen, retreated to hold their lines while looking to hit on the break. Corluka was withdrawn from the field, having been scythed down by Flamini, as was Van der Vaart, and Redknapp brought on new recruits in the shape of Woodgate and Modric.

 

Peter Crouch's uncontrollable joy. Reuters

AND THEN CROUCH — AC Milan continued to pile on the pressure but were getting short shrift inside the packed English penalty area. An individual flash of inspiration was missing, a match-winning performance from Ibra was missing, a spark from Pato was missing: the on-form AC Milan went AWOL. For all their pressure, the troops lacked the clear head needed to hit Tottenham where it really hurt, and the English side were rarely at a real struggle to contain them. Nor did Spurs need much encouragement to swoop on the counter-attack. When it came, with 10 minutes remaining, it bore all the hallmarks of a classic sucker punch: after drawing the sting out of the Rossoneri, Spurs knocked them for six. The move was carried on the wings of Aaron Lennon. Could he get past Yepes? It was no contest. After ghosting past the Colombian and drawing Nesta, the right winger pulled back for Crouch in the centre of the box, who only had to slot home. AC Milan's final flustered forays came to nothing, as Ibrahimovic's 94th minute equaliser was ruled out for a push on Dawson. The Rossoneri's hopes are already hanging in the balance.