Spurs end up with zero after late Milan drama
MAURO ICARDI waited for the ball to arrive from the left and the San Siro held its collective breath. Icardi had barely been given a kick, let alone a sniff of goal by Tottenham and his team were trailing with the clock ticking past 86 minutes. Here he stood, a couple of yards outside the penalty area, judging the flight of the cross from Kwadwo Asamoah. He shifted his balance, adjusted his feet and met it with the sweetest of volleys which screeched low past Michel Vorm and nestled into the corner of the Tottenham net. This grand old venue erupted once again. Inter have suffered during a six-year absence from this competition and they were whipped up into a frenzy for this one. As the teams came out, their fans unfurled a banner which declared: ‘We Are Back’ and they set off at a breathless tempo but Spurs thought they had put of the fire. Mauricio Pochettino’s team weathered the storm of a difficult first half-hour and then stole into the lead through a deflected strike from Christian Eriksen, early in the second half. The San Siro fell quiet and for the first time the travelling fans could be heard singing their manager’s name. Icardi’s magnificent volley brought them back to life and suddenly Tottenham were scrambling to save a point. They wobbled under the pressure and then conceded again from a corner, which is becoming rather a bad habit. Matias Vecino pounced to head it past Vorm in the second minute of added time. Pochettino was stunned, and gave a little shake of his head and ran his hands through his hair. For the first time as Spurs boss he had lost three games in a row and all the positivity from earlier in this tie had washed away in the capitulation of the closing minutes. His team have surrendered the initiative to Inter in a group where everyone expects Barcelona, 4-0 winners against PSV Eindhoven last night, to occupy one of the top-two places. Spurs have Barca next at Wembley and they have work still to do if they are to present the Champions League at their brand new stadium at White Hart Lane this season. Or even next. Inter will take heart and encouragement from this victory and Icardi’s goal on his long-awaited Champions League debut. It took Spurs time to get any hold on the game. Inter’s midfield five hustled Spurs into mistakes on the ball during an opening phase played at a hectic tempo before they took control before half-time. But for all their energy, the Italians had failed to create a clear opening in the first half. Spurs got their rewards eight minutes into the second half. Eriksen’s initial effort bounced back towards him on the edge of the box, where he controlled the ball, took aim again and finally hit the target. INTER MILAN (4-2-3-1): Handanovic 6; Skriniar 6, De Vrij 6, Miranda 6, Asamoah 6.5; Vecino 7, Brozovic 6; Politano 6 (Keita 72min, 6), Nainggolan 6 (Valero 89), Perisic 5 (Candreva 64, 6); Icardi 7.5. Subs not used: Padelli, Berni, Ranocchia, D’Ambrosio. Scorers: Icardi 86, Vecino 90+2. Booked: Skriniar, Perisic. Manager: Luciano Spalletti 6.5. TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Vorm 6; Aurier 5.5, Sanchez 6, Vertonghen 6, Davies 6; Dier 6, Dembele 6; Eriksen 7, Lamela 5 (Winks 72, 5), Son 5 (Moura 64, 6), Kane 5 (Rose 89). Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Wanyama, Walker-Peters, Llorente. Scorer: Eriksen 53. Booked: Sanchez, Vertonghen, Vorm. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 6. Referee: Clement Turpin (F) 6.5. Attendance: 64,123.