Stefano Pioli has conceded that AC Milan paid dearly for one incident during last night’s 1-0 loss against Juventus at San Siro.
The big moment in the game came with five minutes left in the first half when referee Maurizio Mariani adjudged Malick Thiaw to have committed a last-man foul on Moise Kean, producing a red card.
Manuel Locatelli’s deflected second half shot which beat Antonio Mirante and ended up being the winner despite the fact Milan remained on top for the majority of the contest, though their ability to create chances was hurt.
Pioli spoke to Milan TV after the game to try and pick apart what was a frustrating night for the Rossoneri, who lost their second game of the season as well as top spot to Inter.
How big was the red card?
“Clearly, at an individual and departmental level, we didn’t work well. However, there was the possibility of bringing home a positive result. It wasn’t our evening in terms of situations, they didn’t go well for us.
“In my opinion we could have had a second half trying to be more compact, but I find it difficult to find any particular errors, apart from the red card incident, or an insufficient level of performance. The way the 11 of us worked and the way the 10 of us suffered, we deserved another result.”
Antonio Mirante performed well…
“Honestly, I was calm. I am obviously sorry for Sportiello’s injury, he will keep him out for a while, but I had no doubts about Antonio’s abilities. He responded as a Milan goalkeeper, as a boy and a serious professional.”
How do you judge the performance in general
“I think we missed a few more players getting into the box at 11 vs. 11. Even with 10 men we did everything that was necessary, we allowed few chances… two shots from 20-25 meters and one of those ended up going in.”
What we missed was a manager who knows how to react in a crisis, someone who can make the right subs and tactical changes. A poor tactician always blames bad luck.