Tottenham 2-0 AC Milan: Spurs cruise to victory in final friendly

A superb strike from Nacer Chadli and a Tom Carroll goal helped Tottenham end their pre-season with a 2-0 win over AC Milan in Munich.

After defeats to MLS All Stars and Real Madrid in their two other friendlies, it was important Mauricio Pochettino’s men didn’t finish their warm-up matches without victory.

And Chadli’s first-half goal, from 25 yards, and Carroll’s fine second-half strike were enough to earn them that success.

Hugo Lloris returned to the side as Spurs impressed in Munich - just what Pochettino needed three days before Spurs take on Manchester United in their Premier League season opener.

Pochettino named a young side against Milan in the Allianz Arena, but they looked anything but overawed by their illustrious opponents, as right from the off Spurs took control.

Chadli, rotating with Erik Lamela as the focal point of the Spurs attack, opened the scoring in the eighth minute, showing yet further improvement to his game.

Cutting onto his left foot, Chadli beat his man and hammered the ball past veteran Milan ‘keeper Christian Abbiati to get the crowd off their feet.

Teenage midfielder Joshua Onomah had several half chances to double Spurs’ lead, but his touch let him down at the last.

Down the other end, Alessandro Matri was causing Spurs some problems, but found young Tottenham stopper Luke McGee in fine form, denying the Italian with some smart saves.

After the break, the usual raft of substitutions affected the tempo somewhat, but Spurs remained in control.

Ryan Mason and Hugo Lloris’ appearances will have pleased the travelling Spurs fans, and both will now be in the running to take on United on Saturday.

Carroll’s goal after 71 minutes put further gloss on the victory, after picking the ball up in the box, and curling past 16-year-old Milan substitute goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The result sees Spurs finish third in the Audi Cup, but more importantly, the sluggishness of their display against Real Madrid on Tuesday seems to have disappeared - just at the right time.