Getting to grips: Gattuso (right) grabs
Tottenham coach Joe Jordan (centre) whilst boss Redknapp tries to
intervene
Peter Crouch struck to clinch a memorable 1-0
Champions League win for Tottenham over AC Milan, whose captain
Gennaro Gattuso was involved in a butting storm at the final
whistle.
The former Italy midfielder clashed with Spurs assistant
coach Joe Jordan after a tackle from Mathieu Flamini led to
Tottenham right back Vedran Corluka being carried off.
At the final whistle, as the visitors celebrated a
momentous win earned by Crouch's cool finish, Gattuso butted Jordan
in a face-off after an exchange of words.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said: 'I don't know why it all
got so silly.
Gattuso had a flare-up with Joe Jordan. I don't know why.
He obviously hasn't done his homework. He could have picked a fight
with someone other than Joe. He put his head into Joe's face for
some reason. It was crazy. He lost his head during the game (but)
the (Flamini) tackle was the worst part for me.'
Milan should have been down to 10 men after Flamini's
cynical two-footed challenge floored Corluka on the hour mark.
Flamini was only booked by hapless French referee Stephane
Lannoy.
Redknapp added: 'The tackle from Flamini was horrendous.
It was two feet off the floor, a leg-breaking tackle. He's done
some damage. Corluka will probably have an X-ray. He could have
broken his leg, easily. I'd like them (UEFA) to have a look at that
tackle. How he doesn't give him a red card, I don't
know.'
Bad blood: Tempers flared between both teams after
Flamini's challenge on Corluka (floor)
Former Arsenal midfielder Flamini later sought out
Corluka, saying: 'I went to the Tottenham locker room to check on
Corluka's condition and to apologise.'
But the Croatia player said later that Flamini 'should be
in jail for that tackle'.
Former Rangers player Gattuso, who will be suspended for
the second leg after a yellow card for a foul on Steven Pienaar was
also contrite later.
He said: 'I am sorry for the headbutt, it was my
responsibility, I should not have done it. I spoke to Joe Jordan
during the game but I won't reveal what was said. I have no
problems with any of the Spurs players, just Joe Jordan, I spoke to
him in Scottish.'
Milan, seven-time champions of Europe, thought they had
snatched a draw, only to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic's bicycle kick
disallowed for a push on the excellent Michael Dawson.
The only goal was a cool Crouch finish after a wonderful
ball from substitute Luka Modric sent Aaron Lennon speeding past
Mario Yepes as Tottenham broke with blistering pace.
Net call: Crouch slots the ball past Milan
substitute keeper Amelia for the winner
Redknapp, who had special praise for his two
holding midfielders Wilson Palacios and Sandro, added: 'It was a
great night, a fantastic performance. We set out how we wanted to
play and the players responded and couldn't have done any
more.
'They did exactly what we asked of them. We got a great
result. Exactly what we deserved.
'Palacios and Sandro did a fantastic job. Sandro is a lad
with no real experience, he's only played a few games for us, and I
felt him and Wilson responded to each other, got after them, didn't
give them space to play and were excellent for us. Milan didn't
play because we didn't let them play. We've got to make sure we
finish the job now at Tottenham.'
Goalscorer Crouch said: 'It was a great game to play in
and I think we thoroughly deserved it. We defended manfully and
created chances, this is a great result for us.
'The job's far from finished because they are a great
team, but we are full of confidence as you can expect and at White
Hart Lane we feel we can beat anyone.'
