Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has claimed that his side lacked ‘a bit of luck’ despite the fact they had to hang on for a point against AC Milan.
Milan were left frustrated by the away side on Tuesday evening as they spurned several good opportunities to take the lead against Newcastle, who defending heroically and often put bodies on the line.
The Magpies had only one shot on target while the Rossoneri had eight, so it feels like two points dropped for Milan who have away trips to Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund to come next.
Howe arrived in the conference room at San Siro where he spoke to reporters after the game to analyse the performance from his side in what was a tough return to Champions League football. His comments were relayed by MilanNews.
Did you come here to play a defensive game?
“It was very important to defend the goal, but that wasn’t how we set up the game. We tried to attack and push, but we didn’t succeed. We always remained to cover and in the end we did it well, because they didn’t score.”
How did you see your players?
“It was a very hostile atmosphere for our players who were approaching the Champions League, but these new experiences will help.”
What match did Tonali play?
“Sandro did a good job, it was a very emotional match for him. Not many could have done it with that emotional load on him. I think he did well in covering in the first half, he helped us a lot. Now we have to see how we will manage him.”
Were you unlucky?
“We are not disappointed with the result, perhaps we lacked a bit of luck. We defended ourselves with our bodies with the shots we took.
“Of course, to move forward in this tournament we will have to do better, but let’s not focus on the negative sides. Consider the atmosphere and the emotion of the debut. We will improve and from the next game we will see another Newcastle.”
How did the defence do?
“I think the defence as a whole played well, the central defenders were very good but in general the whole defensive department worked well.”
What is Newcastle’s objective in the Champions League?
“We have to aim to qualify, I don’t know how many points will be needed but the away points are certainly precious.”
if anyone was unlucky it clearly was ac milan so howe is delusional i regard of them lacking luck. we could easily have won 3-0 at minimum and that is down to the milan players not finishing the job.
Eddie must have been smoking that good sh## on the bench for him to make this statement
Not blame him this shall be the headies of most English papers tomorrow morning.
It’s all Leaos fault. If he’d just play serious football consistently. He shouldn’t be trying a back heel in a champions league match were we need to score. And he hasn’t earned the right to stroll in his career. If he isn’t careful João Felix will stunt his growth with Portugal as well