Tottenham get the Job Done against AC Milan

Tottenham have done one better than their local rivals tonight with a winning draw against AC Milan, which saw the London side hold on to their first leg lead to progress to the quarter finals.

It wasn't the most eventful of games, with a William Gallas goal line clearance being the biggest save whilst the main controversy being Mathieu Flamini's continued aggressive tackles from the San Siro. In comparison with Arsenal's controversial, action packed clash at the Nou Camp yesterday, this game was more of a competitive kick around.

I thought there would be more attacking from both sides, however Milan were predominant in attack but were not being able to create any chances of real merit, apart from a few ambitious shots from Pato and Robinho. Zlatan Ibrahimovich whose biggest fan is himself, mustered a powerful freekick which needed a good save from Gomes in the Tottenham goal.

Spurs didn't take full advantage of their wing play which has been good to them in the previous European rounds - most notably against Inter with Bale. Lennon didn't have many opportunities to stretch his little legs in a super sprint, and was restricted to a few impressive crosses up to the towering Crouch who seemed intent on heading it down to van der Vaart. After one particularly good cross from Lennon, Crouch, who was only about 8 yards out and at not a particularly tight angle, hit it back where it came, hoping for an on runner to strike it in rather than going for goal himself.

The pressure that Spurs were under was nothing in comparison to Barcelona's relentless attacking of the Gunners yesterday, and so they coped with it well. Milan were pretty poor for a team who had to score a goal in truth, never looking threatening.

So Tottenham progress to the final eight, and Redknapp becomes the first English manger to take a team to this stage - which was quite surprising but quite an achievement. They will most probably hope to avoid Barcelona in the next round, although will surely love the opportunity to have a go at them, and perhaps get yet another one over on Arsenal who were quite harshly described yesterday by one Spanish journalist:

“This Arsenal is a losing team, they lack grandeur, ambition and talent, there’s only one Barça and are no imitations are accepted.”

Tottenham will not be wanting that sort of description.

Henderson, Carroll and Jay Bothroyd are In England Squad

Fabio Capello announced his England Squad for the friendly against France. The names included a lot of young talent which the Italian coach will be hoping to create a different kind of team with a different dimension to it which will be the England of the future.

Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Ben Foster, Robert Green, Joe Hart

Defenders:
Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Kieran Gibbs, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards, Chris Smalling, John Terry

Midfelders:
Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Adam Johnson, James Milner, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Ashley Young

Strikers:
Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jay Bothroyd, Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 1 Inter Milan GOALS

Tottenham destroyed Inter Milan on Tuesday night at White Hart Lane, with Gareth Bale ripping the Inter Milan defence to shreads. It was a fantastic performance, in which van der Vaart scored, while Gareth Bale sweeped down the left wing - past Maicon, and set up both Crouch and Pavleyuchenko for simple tap-ins.

Tottenham have announced themselves to Europe, and the world. The Champions League newcomers have beaten the European Champion convincingly, and shown their quality, strength in depth, and a player who will be drawing lots of attention over the coming years, Gareth Bale.