A real Glory Glory night!

Crouchie gets the winner

Wow - What a night!

Before the game I said I would be happy with an away goal, I would even had taken a loss (depending on the score!) if we could get that away goal as I was very confident of beating them at home. Not only getting that away goal but winning AND keeping a clean sheet was quite frankly fantastic!

This season has seen some great Spurs moments, The Champions League has certainly seen to that and at the moment this doesn't look to be ending any time soon. Last night saw one of the best performances I've seen from a Tottenham team, at times it wasn't pretty and the second half saw AC Milan hold a huge amount of the ball but Spurs battled.
Two legged fixtures such as this have to be treated very carefully, going on an 'all out attack' although great to watch does have its drawbacks - the goals we've conceded in the competition thus far can support this. We needed to go to Milan, get an away goal and try to snatch the win and this is exactly what we did.

We actually started the game looking much better than Milan, we attacked well, had some great chances and were unlucky not to score. Crouch in particular had a couple of really great chances to put us in front.
Milan had their moments as well, Ibrahimovic was unlucky with a close shot which just went past the post. We were also very lucky that the ref waved away a definite free-kick just outside our area after Sandro bundled over Ibrahimovic.
After the first 25 minutes the game slowed somewhat - Don't get me wrong it wasn't boring but both teams cancelled each other out - however with the yids looking the better side.

Milan were always going to come out on the attacking foot in the second half and this is when Spurs really upped their game, the name of which was defence. And they done such a bloody good job at it as well! When Milan did get past the front line Gomes was always there. He really was in such great form and pulled of a string of fantastic saves - thankfully he was in his 'great keeper' mode and not 'crazy, unpredictable' mode!

Before the Gomes heroics however there was a sign of things to come. How Flamini stayed on the pitch is beyond me, on the 54th minute he performed what Harry described as a 'leg breaking' challenge. Literally sending Corluka flying with a two footed horror show. Absolutely disgraceful. He then had the audacity to shout at the lino as if he had done nothing wrong! I just hope that Charlie won't be too bad - seeing him limp around the ground with crutches though wasn't a pretty sight.

This was the spark though that set Milan off, our play and perseverance was obviously starting to get to their players and things really started to heat up from here on in. The man that would steal the headlines? Gennaro Gattuso.
He had spent the game getting into Crouchie, giving him little digs and kicks (the way the Italians do) and after a shove to the face of Crouch decided he would take his attentions elsewhere.Unfortunately for Gattuso he decided that Joe Jordon was the perfect man and shoved him in the face after an exchange on the sidelines. Gattuso SHOULD have been carded for this let alone for the events to come but the ref decided to leave his backbone at home and merely carried the game on.

He then went in on Pienaar with an awful challenge that he did get carded for - but only after rolling around on the floor, screaming, shouting and repeatedly thumping the pitch. Quite frankly it was embarrassing - he's the Milan captain for Christ sake! That yellow card see's him banned for the second leg at The Lane so at least he wont taint our ground with his presence!

Shortly after came the moment that we deserved. Sandro blocked a shot and passed out to Lennon who then burst half the length of the pitch - evading a last ditch attempt at a foul - before squaring to Crouch who coolly slotted into the corner. 1-0.  And how sweet it was as well!

Gattuso making a tit of himself

Milan kept on coming but we saw out the last 10 minutes with such great professionalism. Milan nearly got an equaliser in the 94th when Ibrahimovic put it in the back of the net - thankfully the ref spotted a shove on Dawson and disallowed it.
When the final whistle went i really couldn't contain myself - what a night! Unfortunately Gattuso couldn't contain himself either and decided he wanted seconds with Joe Jordon. Quite frankly out of the two Jordon would scare me most but he tried anyway and then headbutted our number two, not a full blown whack i admit but a headbutts a headbutt. This kicked off a huge melee which really soured what was another awesome night in Europe for The Lillywhites.

Hopefully Uefa with do what they need to and give him a lengthy ban.

As i said this really was one of the best performances Ive ever seen from the team. They done what they had to do and they done it very well. One last mention is to the travelling Spurs support - well done guys, you done us all proud! The noise from the Spurs end was fantastic!

Cant wait for the second leg - The Lane's going to be electric!

Player ratings:


Gomes - 9 - At his best, pulled off a string of fantastic reflex saves which really saved the game for us. His distribution was top notch as well and he caught the balls that came his way as well, rather than just punching them away. Fantastic display!
Corluka - 7 - Done his job very well, really does lack pace at times but didn't lose his man when marking and was a strong presence on the right, forced off injured thanks to Flamini - hopefully its nothing too serious!
Dawson - 8 - A rock in defence! Another great display, dealt with everything that came his way for the entire game!
Gallas - 8 - Done the job as well as Dawson, used his strength to keep the Milan front line at bay very well!
BAE - 7.5 - Same story as normal really, defended fantastically but needs to sort out his distribution, wasted a number of opportunities through poor passing. Good game though on the whole
Lennon - 8 - Fantastic breakaway to set up Crouchie for the winner, did this all game though, always looked a threat and really proved himself throughout!
Sandro - 7.5 - Starting to show why we paid £8m for him, a rock in the middle and really played well, a tad rash at times which can cause us problems such as the 'foul' which wasn't given in the 23rd.
Palacios - 8 - Best appearance in a Spurs shirt all season. Constantly harassed the opposition and passed the ball very well, a bit more of this please!
Pienaar - 7.5 - A very good display and always looked lively, ran himself into trouble a bit too often but gave a good account of himself.
VdV - 7.5 - Very lively in the first half and was unlucky not to score, if I had to moan about anything though its that he should have passed a little more often, always tries to be the hero - not a bad thing but doesn't always work. Subbed as his temperament would have definitely got him booked!
Crouch - 8 - Really showed some character, got kicked and thrown around by the defence but shrugged it off and gave ti back as well. Unlucky nto to score in the first half but took his chance in the 80th!

Subs:
Woodgate - 7 - Great to see him back in a Spurs shirt! Came on for the injured Corluka and made some great blocks/interceptions. Unfortunately its been confirmed that he's strained his left adductor muscle so could be out again for a while, hope for his sake its not too serious!
Modric - 7 - Looked good when he got the ball but it was all about defence when he came on for VdV.
Kranjcar - 7 - Unlucky not to get a start after his recent performances, came on quite very late on so didn't have time to do much