Stefano Pioli has labelled the performance from his AC Milan side as ‘slow and imprecise’ as they dropped two points in a 1-1 draw against Sampdoria.
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The Rossoneri came into the game confident having beaten Fiorentina 3-2 in the game before the international break and with some key players back, it seemed the perfect game to send a message to the rest of the teams in the top six.
However, it wasn’t to be as Milan were way off the pace once again. A mistake at the back allowed Fabio Quagliarella to give the away side a second half lead with a lob over Gianluigi Donnarumma, and though Jens Petter Hauge equalised late on it felt like more points dropped at home against a side with 10 men for the last 30 minutes.
Pioli spoke to Sky Italia after the game and admitted that there are no excuses from Milan’s slow performance, with his words relayed by MilanNews and translated below.
“Sampdoria also had players in the national team. Kjaer played with Denmark and played a good match today. There are no excuses. We were slow in build-up and imprecise in our choices,” he said.
“There was plenty of room to do something more. When you make bad choices and play a game below your level, that’s the performance.Today there is disappointment and bitterness about how we played and there is no justification.
“We had to face the match with more rhythm and more attitude. There was no lack of spirit. We wanted to win again at San Siro but we did not succeed. The chance where Kessie hit the post could have given us victory but for how we played we didn’t deserve the victory.”
On the Scudetto race, Pioli half admitted defeat: “It’s Inter who has the Scudetto in their hands. Only Inter can lose it.”