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Tottenham ratings: Gallas and Dawson hold Milan

Gallas was outstanding in the heart of the Tottenham defence
Gallas was outstanding in the heart of the Tottenham defence
MARC ASPLAND FOR THE TIMES

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-1-1)

Heurelho Gomes 7
Caused a few alarms with his poor kicking and a reckless dash off his line, but made amends by making several good saves from close range, most notably a brilliant double save from Pato.

Vedran Corluka 6
Got forward to provide a good cross in the first minute, but barely left his own half thereafter as he was kept busy by the roving Robinho.

William Gallas 7
Used all his experience to keep Tottenham in a match in which they were largely second best, sticking close to Ibrahimovic and clearing a Robinho shot off the line.

Michael Dawson 6
Defended well throughout and got forward to head a corner narrowly over the cross-bar midway through the second half as Tottenham came back into the contest.

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Benoit Assou-Ekotto 6
Just about edged a gripping battle with Flamini, who was shown a yellow card for one of his trademark reckless lunges on the French defender.

Aaron Lennon 7
Spent most of the first half doubling up as an additional right-back, but got forward more after the break as Tottenham fought back and provided an excellent outlet.

Luka Modric 5
Unable to get on the ball as Tottenham looked to be a man short in midfield, but worked tirelessly off the ball and won more tackles than one would expect of a man of his size.

Sandro 6
Struggled initially as he gave the ball away and conceded several needless free-kicks, but a different player in the second half and instrumental in Tottenham’s ability to withstand pressure.

Steven Pienaar 5
Released Van der Vaart with a good cross-field pass early on, but drifted out of the game thereafter, with a lacklustre from 40 yards which floated well wide his only other contribution.

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Rafael Van der Vaart 6
Started brightly with a powerful shot narrowly wide of the near post and remained Tottenham’s only attacking threat, going close with a free-kick and bringing a good save from Abbiati.

Peter Crouch 6
Won the several headers, but largely isolated up front and when he did get the ball gave away too many free-kicks, although many of the decisions seemed harsh.

Substitutes: Gareth Bale 5 (for Van der Vaart, 66min) Worked hard despite lack of fitness. Jermaine Jenas 5 (for Pienaar, 70) Helped shore up midfield in closing stages. Roman Pavlyuchenko (for Crouch, 83). Not used: Carlo Cudicini, Alan Hutton, Ledley King, Jermain Defoe.

AC Milan (4-3-3)

Christian Abbiati 6

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Recovered from a nasty facial injury when he was kicked by Van der Vaart in the opening minutes to make several crucial saves, with one from the Dutchman the most impressive.

Ignazio Abate 6

Untroubled by Pienaar, so was able to push forward with impunity, shooting across goal at the start of the second half when he should have hit the target.

Alessandro Nesta 6

The last member of Milan’s defensive dynasty of the Paolo Maldini era remains as good as ever, coping well with Crouch’s aerial threat and distributing effectively.

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Thiago Silva 5

Given Van der Vaart’s penchant for dropping deep, the Brazil defender had little to do but was still caught out occasionally by the Dutchman’s intelligent movement.

Marek Jankulovski 5

Struggled to cope with the pace of Lennon as the England winger pushed forward at the start of the second half and was deservedly booked.

Mathieu Flamini 5

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Booed whenever he received the ball in the wake of his antics in the first leg and picked up a booking for another reckless lunge, on Assou-Ekotto on this occasion.

Clarence Seedorf 7

The dominant player on the pitch at the age of 34, the Dutchman allowed the visiting side to keep pushing forward at a high tempo as he distributed the ball so quickly.

Kevin-Prince Boateng 5

Has improved from the player who was relegated with Portsmouth last season, but his passing remains too haphazard for the highest level and he frequently lost possession.

Alexandre Pato 6

Milan’s biggest attacking threat as he hung menacingly on the shoulder of the last defender, breaking through on several occasions only to be denied by Gomes.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic 5

Another dreadful performance against English opposition, the former Barcelona frontman being able to muster only one shot, and that came from a free kick.

Robinho 6

Has cut out the trickery to cause the opposition problems in a more orthodox manner that was difficult to defend against, carving Spurs open with good passes from deep.

Substitutes: Luca Antonini 6 (for Jankulovski, 69min), Alexander Merkel (for Boateng, 75), Rodney Strasser (for Flamini, 86). Not used: Marco Amelia, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Massimo Oddo, Mario Yepes. Booked: Jankulovski, Flamini, Pato.

Referee: Franck de Bleeckere (Belgium).

* Due to a technical error, the original ratings on this page were wrong. The ratings you now see are the ones Matt Hughes filed.