Pat Nevin felt sorry for Harry Kane as AC Milan beat Tottenham Hotspur after Simon Kjaer man-marked the forward. The Rossoneri won their Champions League last 16 first-leg 1-0.
Brahim Diaz (7’) broke the deadlock at San Siro early on to give his Serie A side the lead for the second-leg on March 8. Spurs rallied and appeared comfortable for much of the match, despite their inexperienced midfield with Pape Matar Sarr starting alongside Oliver Skipp.
Yet Tottenham failed to turn their comfort into chances as Kjaer kept a lid on Kane for AC Milan. The centre-back took touch-tight to another level to stay with the 29-year-old. But Spurs also struggled to feed the 80-cap England captain with service into Kane often poor.
Nevin felt sorry for Kane after Kjaer man-marked the Tottenham striker
Kane fought for what he could against Kjaer but the limited service Tottenham fashioned restricted his efforts on Tuesday. Nevin also felt Kjaer played on the limit with his dark-art defending. The ex-Scotland star even felt his man-marking of Kane was at unseen levels.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kane so closely marked,” Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Kjaer has been on him, holding his shirt, pushing him [and] barging him in the back. He can keep doing it until he gets booked. It’s a real shame for Kane because he is not getting a chance.
“Why not ask Richarlison to play up front and it would give Kane a chance to do something different, something special.”
Conte had his first-choice front-three starting at San Siro
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte would have been frustrated with how Kjaer and AC Milan kept Kane and co quiet. Spurs had their first-choice front-three all starting at San Siro with Son Heung-Min and Dejan Kulusevski opening the action alongside Kane on Tuesday night.
The Rossoneri managed to limit the north Londoners’ best weapons for most of the match. Son, particularly, struggled to find a groove against the Serie A side before Conte replaced the South Korean. Arnaut Danjuma came on for Son after Richarlison replaced Kulusevski.
Yet Conte did not change Tottenham’s shape following his substitutions against AC Milan to help release Kane from Kjaer’s clutches. Richarlison and Danjuma, instead, came on as like-for-like alternatives for Kulusevski and Son. But neither of the quartet made a real impact.
Malick Thiaw and Theo Hernandez excelled against Kulusevski and then Richarlison on the right-hand flank. Like Kjaer against Kane, Thiaw barely gave the Sweden winger the space to influence proceedings. Now, Conte must find an answer to break the AC Milan defence.
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