Stand-in AC Milan boss Daniele Bonera praised his side for an ‘important victory’ as they won away against Napoli for the first time in 10 years.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was once again decisive as his brace either side of half-time fired the Rossoneri into a two-goal lead, though he did limp off later in the game with what looked like a thigh problem.
Dries Mertens pulled one back for Napoli to make it a tense last half hour, but Milan’s chances were helped by the fact that Tiemoue Bakayoko was sent off against his former side for amassing two yellow cards.
Milan would hold on and clinch a fantastic 3-1 victory with a late goal from Jens Petter Hauge, their first at the San Paolo since the Scudetto season in 2010-11.
Bonera was interviewed by Sky Italia after the game, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews and translated below.
On Ibra’s injury: “He had ice in the back of his thigh, it looks like a muscle problem but we don’t know the extent. He doesn’t usually leave the pitch, we’ll see the exams in the next few days.”
On the Scudetto: “It is an important victory, we are working in the right direction, it is premature to talk about something that will be awarded in May.”
On Pioli: “He was very happy, he saw the whole team on a video call in the locker room, he congratulated everyone.
“We have a great squad available, this path starts from afar. We are aware that we are up there, we will work to stay there as long as possible but we are only on the eighth round.”
On the opponents: “Nobody is underestimated. Napoli are a great team, they have found another great team in front of them. There are too many games available. There are teams that have invested and have been built to win the league, we were not built to win immediately, our path allows us to grow slowly, it can be an advantage but it is premature.
“We have also improved a lot in preparation for matches, the attention of each player is always high. These improvements make us look to the future with great ambition, I don’t want to repeat myself but we are a team that has the obligation to improve but not to win. Let’s see how the next matches will go.”
On the game management with an extra man: “A great team in those situations manages the game better. We will try to improve starting tomorrow, all these little things will make us grow, for the moment we are very happy.”
On awareness: “Awareness must increase every training session, the fact that we have such available players gives us awareness but the championship is infinite.”
