Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 AC Milan
Spurs youngster Georges-Kevin N’Koudou scored his second goal in two games to give the Whites another impressive win at ICC 2018
More than 31,000 fans swarmed to the US Bank Stadium in Minnesota to see Spurs and Milan, and the game was decided by a brilliant strike by N’Koudou early in the second half. This means Mauricio Pochettino’s side leaves the USA with only one defeat, albeit a penalty shoot-out loss to Barca, which is all encouraging news for North London fans.
But while Milan have another ICC game, the serious business is looming for Spurs.
Highlights of the game
Pochettino’s pre-season preparations have been going okay, but with no big signings yet through the door, he really needs his current crop to stay fit. Ironically, however, he was without the injured Victor Wanyama and Harry Winks for this tie as he waits for the England World Cup stars to become available.
He has some strength in depth, albeit untested at the top level, and N’Koudou could be one for the future. The French starlet, who troubled Milan all night with his pace and trickery, spent the second half of last season on loan at Premier league Burnley but had little game time. Maybe if Sean Dyche had seen this kind of form, N’Koudou would have featured rather more at Turf Moor.
The Serie A team may be kicking themselves though as they should have been out of sight by halftime with the excellent Suso pulling the strings. The Spanish midfielder threatened on 14 minutes with a dangerous cross into the area, but Patrick Cutrone couldn’t quite convert.
Suso provided another chance for Cutrone soon after, but this time the striker’s powerful header was superbly saved by Michel Vorm. And these two continued to link up well but couldn’t break through.
And just two minutes into the second half, Spurs punished the Italians for their wastefulness in front of goal. Halftime substitute Gianluigi Donnarumma could only watch as N’Koudou latched on to a sloppy ball in midfield before sprinting forward and hammering his shot past the young keeper. That was his second goal at the ICC following his strike against Barcelona last weekend.
Genarro Gattuso couldn’t fault his side’s endeavour for they could have been level within minutes when Hakan Calhanoglu came close with a free-kick. N’Koudou’s pace continued to give Milan problems in defence and, once again, he took advantage of an untidy pass and fizzed a cross into the box but Donnarumma was equal to it.
Milan didn’t give up, right to the last, and almost turned ICC 2018 betting upside down with an equaliser in the dying moments. Unfortunately, Jose Mauri blasted his chance wide.
Key statistics
In their previous games, Spurs gave Roma a 4-1 thumping before fighting back well to earn a 2-2 draw with Barcelona. It’s never easy to do that to a Serie A side and so Mauricio can take heart.
This victory over Milan means Spurs have four wins in five, while defeat for Milan is their second in five games, including a penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United after a 1-1 stalemate.
The Rossoneri can feel themselves a little unlucky with their ICC 2018 results, and so can you if that’s where you placed your football bet! Inspired by the brilliant Suso, Milan had 16 shots (eight on target) to Spurs’ five. But the EPL team kept the ball better, with 56 percent possession and 87 percent passing accuracy, compared to Milan’s 82 percent.
Gattuso has plenty of attacking threat in his side and Milan fans will be delighted by the news that Gonzalo Higuain has agreed to join them on a year loan from Juventus.
But they need to cut down the wastefulness all around the pitch before Serie A starts.
What’s next?
Both teams want to strengthen before the new season starts and Pochettino has criticised the decision to bring the end of the transfer window forward to next week, saying it disadvantages Premier League teams. But it is what it is, and when the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli join this group, he won’t be that far away.
But competition for a top-four place will be fierce again and the Spurs’ money men will be working hard over the next nine days.
In the meantime, Poch takes his team to Girona for their final warm-up game before the season starts at St. James’ Park with a challenging fixture against Rafa Benitez’ Newcastle United. Keep an eye on the SBOBET football odds for that one, it promises to be a great game.
Milan have a big test to look forward to when they meet Barcelona at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, and then they can look forward to the arrival of Higuain and the next assault on Serie A.
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