LONDO Date N (AP) -- Peter Crouch's valuable away goal for Tottenham secured a 1-0 victory at AC Milan and Raul Gonzalez also scored on the road in Schalke's 1-1 draw at Valencia as the Champions League last-16 phase began Tuesday.
Aaron Lennon launched an electrifying counterattack from inside the Tottenham half before sweeping the ball across for Crouch to score in the 80th minute.
"When I beat the first defender and saw Crouchy was free I was always going to put it across to him," Lennon said.
A heated second-half ended at the San Siro with Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso charging toward the Tottenham bench and headbutting assistant coach Joe Jordan having been involved in an earlier altercation.
"(Gattuso) always seems to get involved, he got involved with me as well as Joe Jordan," Crouch said.
The night's other match in Valencia was calmer despite Schalke midfielder Lukas Schmitz being sent off for a second booking toward the end.
Raul marked his return to Spain for the first time since his offseason move from Real Madrid by extending his Champions League record to 69 goals when he canceled out Roberto Soldado's first-half goal for Valencia.
The second batch of last-16 matches is on Wednesday when Barcelona is at Arsenal AS Roma hosts Shakhtar Donetsk.
Tottenham returned Tuesday to the scene of one of the most startling results in Europe this season. The competition newcomers recovered from 4-0 down at the San Siro to narrowly lose 4-3 against Inter Milan in the group stage.
But this time, Tottenham was without speedy midfielder Gareth Bale, who scored a hat trick against AC Milan's rival.
Spurs were aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty in the opening minutes when Alessandro Nesta appeared to lean and use his arm to block Rafael van der Vaart's cross.
After a tight first half, Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes pulled off fine saves from two Mario Yepes headers to keep his side in the match.
Mathieu Flamini was fortunate not to be sent off after a two-footed challenge on Tottenham defender Vedran Corluka, who was carried off and later re-emerged on crutches with his right foot wrapped up.
"How has he not got a red card for that?" Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. "It's an absolute disgrace, they (UEFA) should look at that, surely, and do something about it. It's a dangerous, dangerous tackle. They lost their heads a bit at the end."
After Crouch's sixth goal in eight European matches this season, Zlatan Ibrahimovic thought he had equalized in stoppage time, but his overhead kick was ruled out for a two-handed push into the back of Tottenham captain Michael Dawson.
"It was a great game of football," Crouch said. "I thought we limited them to not many chances and I think we were the better side. It's a fantastic achievement. I just had to keep up with Azza (Lennon) at the end (for the goal)."
Raul now leads AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi by one goal in the overall UEFA tally, having scored 71 goals in European competitions.
The latest came at the Mestalla Stadium when he held off defender David Navarro before slotting a shot inside the far post beyond outstretched goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
Substitute Junmin Hao came close to grabbing a winner for Schalke in the 90th but he was denied by Guaita's fingertip save.
Valencia went ahead in the 17th minute at home when Soldado redirected Jeremy Mathieu's deep cross past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer at the near post.
Valencia hasn't beaten Schalke in three games at the Mestalla, with all ending in draws. Its last win over a German opponent on home soil was in 1996.
Aaron Lennon launched an electrifying counterattack from inside the Tottenham half before sweeping the ball across for Crouch to score in the 80th minute.
"When I beat the first defender and saw Crouchy was free I was always going to put it across to him," Lennon said.
A heated second-half ended at the San Siro with Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso charging toward the Tottenham bench and headbutting assistant coach Joe Jordan having been involved in an earlier altercation.
"(Gattuso) always seems to get involved, he got involved with me as well as Joe Jordan," Crouch said.
The night's other match in Valencia was calmer despite Schalke midfielder Lukas Schmitz being sent off for a second booking toward the end.
Raul marked his return to Spain for the first time since his offseason move from Real Madrid by extending his Champions League record to 69 goals when he canceled out Roberto Soldado's first-half goal for Valencia.
The second batch of last-16 matches is on Wednesday when Barcelona is at Arsenal AS Roma hosts Shakhtar Donetsk.
Tottenham returned Tuesday to the scene of one of the most startling results in Europe this season. The competition newcomers recovered from 4-0 down at the San Siro to narrowly lose 4-3 against Inter Milan in the group stage.
But this time, Tottenham was without speedy midfielder Gareth Bale, who scored a hat trick against AC Milan's rival.
Spurs were aggrieved not to have been awarded a penalty in the opening minutes when Alessandro Nesta appeared to lean and use his arm to block Rafael van der Vaart's cross.
After a tight first half, Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes pulled off fine saves from two Mario Yepes headers to keep his side in the match.
Mathieu Flamini was fortunate not to be sent off after a two-footed challenge on Tottenham defender Vedran Corluka, who was carried off and later re-emerged on crutches with his right foot wrapped up.
"How has he not got a red card for that?" Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. "It's an absolute disgrace, they (UEFA) should look at that, surely, and do something about it. It's a dangerous, dangerous tackle. They lost their heads a bit at the end."
After Crouch's sixth goal in eight European matches this season, Zlatan Ibrahimovic thought he had equalized in stoppage time, but his overhead kick was ruled out for a two-handed push into the back of Tottenham captain Michael Dawson.
"It was a great game of football," Crouch said. "I thought we limited them to not many chances and I think we were the better side. It's a fantastic achievement. I just had to keep up with Azza (Lennon) at the end (for the goal)."
Raul now leads AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi by one goal in the overall UEFA tally, having scored 71 goals in European competitions.
The latest came at the Mestalla Stadium when he held off defender David Navarro before slotting a shot inside the far post beyond outstretched goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
Substitute Junmin Hao came close to grabbing a winner for Schalke in the 90th but he was denied by Guaita's fingertip save.
Valencia went ahead in the 17th minute at home when Soldado redirected Jeremy Mathieu's deep cross past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer at the near post.
Valencia hasn't beaten Schalke in three games at the Mestalla, with all ending in draws. Its last win over a German opponent on home soil was in 1996.
(Mainichi Japan) February 16, 2011
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