That'll do, Tottenham, that'll do.
No horror start this time. No 4 goals in 30 minutes. No Gomes madness. Just cultured, classy and thoroughly effective football from a Spurs side that comes of even greater age with every landmark result this remarkable season has to offer.
And, at the end of it all, the pièce de résistance: Aaron Lennon's Michael Owen/Gareth Bale-esque run, piercing the heart of the creaking Milan defence and Peter Crouch's assured finished into the corner of the net, handing Spurs a 1-0 advantage in the tie and the precious gift of an away goal. As Glory Glory nights go, this will certainly go up there with the very best.
This was a Tottenham story as dramatic and worth of re-telling as any involving teams from the city of Milan this season. First there was the tale of two halves against Inter in October, where Bale almost single handedly dragged Spurs back from a disastrous start with a stunning hat-trick. Then, weeks later, full redemption and another Bale-inspired performance resulting in a 3-1 thrashing handed out to the European champions.
Tuesday night was not without its own incident and intrigue. Spurs were missing Bale, their Milanese tormentor-in-chief, and Luka Modric, another architect of the very best of Lilywhite football this season. Injury to Tom Huddlestone and suspension to Jermaine Jenas meant that the last remaining pair of central midfielders would be tasked with shielding the defence against the formidable Milan attack. Wilson Palacios and Sandro were to be thrown in at the deep end and the popular consensus was that they'd quickly sink.
But, with all eyes on the first few minutes, to see if Spurs crumbled like their last visit, the away side settled from the very first minute, forcing a corner within 60 seconds. The opening rounds of the contest belonged to Tottenham, with Lennon and Steven Pienaar providing the incision from out wide and Rafael van der Vaart looking very much a class act in the middle. There were few shots on goal to trouble Milan but there was possession aplenty and more than a few teasing balls into the box that would have had the home crowd nervously flinching, especially with the ever-dangerous Crouch lurking around every corner.
Sandro and Palacios were, from the word go, excellent. Extremely disciplined, never straying from their primary duty of breaking up central Milan attacks and distributing the ball as intelligently as possible, they belied their respective inexperience and average form to provide the exact service that Harry Redknapp would have wanted from them. Sandro, at the tender age of just 21, was a joy to watch.
With many forecasting a narrow defeat for Spurs, the half time score of 0-0 was highly satisfactory. Milan had been subdued, their attacking might nullified by the sterling work of Tottenham's midfield and the calm application of William Gallas and the outstanding Michael Dawson. But, to borrow a football cliché, the second half exploded into life. Milan were suddenly much more of a threat on the ball and they fired it into Tottenham's area with far more regularity.
But their greater ambition was sullied by the shocking behaviour of two of their players. First, the disgraceful, horrific challenge from Mathieu Flamini on Vedran Corluka. Flamini didn't so much as go in two footed than paint a target on Corluka's ankles and aim both pairs of studs towards them. The Spurs full back avoided any potential bone breaking by leaping high in the air just in time but it was enough to force him from the game and out of action for perhaps a month. What was worse was what followed: Flamini beckoned to all around him that Corluka had made a meal of the challenge and seemed to signal to the crowd that he was proud of his actions. Then, he was only yellow-carded for his transgression, meaning that by dint of UEFA rules, no retrospective action can be taken against him.
If Flamini had stoked the flames of tension, then Milan captain Gennaro Gattuso made sure they stayed alight. If you ever wanted to see a player completely lose his composure during a game, then simply watch this game. Gattuso picked up all of his toys in one go and threw them ceremoniously out of his pram. His slanging match was Joe Jordan was highly amusing to watch but when he chose to meekly grab Jordan by the throat, a line had been crossed. And he wasn't finished there. He stomped his way around the field, pushing Crouch in the chest, following him for more verbals and then sliding through the back of Pienaar to finally get himself a yellow card.
How he wasn't sent off for the first crime, the Jordan mêlée, was an inexcusable oversight from the officials. Pushing Crouch should have earned him red too. As it happens, the yellow card rules him out of the return leg, which, in a perverse manner, is a shame: seeing him have a strop at the White Hart Lane cauldron would have been a treat for all involved.
Milan pressed further, forcing two outstanding saves out of Gomes, who had decided to have one of his world class games rather than the shoddiness of some of his recent performances. As if to add to the drama of it all, Jonathan Woodgate had been thrown on to replace Corluka, his first outing on a football pitch since November 2009. Modric, undoubtedly not 100% fit, replaced van der Vaart, who was similarly lacking in full fitness, and immediately looked the part, spraying passes around customary class.
And, with ten minutes remaining and slightly against the run of play, the goal came. Modric found possession at the end of a sustained Milan attack, and found Lennon, who decided to utilise his pace against the ageing home defence. And the rest, as they say is history.
There was still time for edge-of-the-seat drama: in the fourth minute of added on time, Ibrahimovic, who had been in Dawson's pocket all night long, fired a superb overhead kick into the back of the net to break Tottenham all over the world. But, after what seemed like hours, the ref's whistle went: the Swedish striker has quite clearly pushed Dawson away to gain space from which he scored from. Goal ruled out. Cue millions of simultaneous sighs of relief.
And then it was over. And Gattuso hadn't finished his temper tantrum. Ripping his shirt off, he went over to Jordan to pick up where they'd left off. Jordan had even removed his glasses in anticipation of what was coming. As the Spurs bench surrounded their first team coach, Gattuso aimed a pathetic headbutt at Jordan, who reacted like the footballer of a previous era that he is, rather than the modern day version would have - he didn't fall to ground, screaming and clutching his face. It all kicked off: Bassong made Gattuso know what he thought. Van der Vaart tried to intervene. Even Pav looked mildly angered by the whole affair.
Frankly, for any player to behave in that manner is shameful. For a captain to do it is even worse. For an AC Milan captain to lose his rag like that is, in the eyes of their supporters, nigh on unforgivable. Gattuso is facing investigation and a lengthy ban from the authorities. Let's hope that proper justice is meted out on this occasion and that pays for what he did.
So 1-0 up in the tie and the job is half done. That's the point that should be made by Redknapp to his players. As outstanding as this win was, the job's not done yet. An early Milan goal at White Hart Lane in a few weeks time and we're back at square one. Yes, we'll likely have Bale, Modric and co. back for that game but it's no reason to rest on our laurels. The job is only half done. The prize is lucrative - a quarter final appearance is further than anyone Spurs fan could have dreamed of back in August - and a complacent attitude going into the next leg could ruin it all.
The message to the players should be simple: keep the same desire, keep the same commitment. The rest should fall into place. But do not for a second think that we're already through.
Though, one suspects, they already know that. Redknapp has more than likely already impressed upon them the need to refocus. The Spurs boss got it tactically spot on in Milan, to the surprise of many who don't rate his tactical nous. Admittedly, he'll never be termed as one of the game's great thinkers but those who claim he doesn't have any kind of plan may want to revisit that theory. To follow up on a point made on this blog last week, it's about time Redknapp gained more respect from us Spurs fans.
But all in all, what a night and what an occasion for Tottenham. Billy Nicholson would have been looking down with immense pride. Is there anything more left to say?
