AC Milan managed to beat Monza by three goals to nil on Sunday morning and Stefano Pioli was understandably pleased with the result. Speaking to the media afterwards, the manager discussed everything about the positive game.
The Rossoneri certainly made good use of the confidence boost gained mid-week, following the win against Newcastle, and opened the scoring after just three minutes today. Tijjani Reijnders was the finisher and the debutant Jan-Carlo Simic, who came off the bench, then added to the party.
Noah Okafor put the final nail in the coffin with a nice finish and sealed all three points for Milan and Pioli. Speaking to DAZN after the game, as cited by MilanNews, the manager discussed the positive performance and the youngsters shining with the first team.
On the performance…
“We have to work on ourselves, we have to raise the level and provide continuity. It was the right match, we came from a match where we burned a lot of energy and the boys interpreted it well. The young players must be applauded and there is a lot of great work being done by the club.”
On Simic’s debut goal…
“Luckily it’s part of football. We experience great emotions and great disappointments, like the one the other evening and this morning. We are happy for him but now we have to think about the next match. We must continue like this.”
On the way to defend…
“The idea was to protect the characteristics of the players we had on the pitch. Especially due to Monza’s way of attacking, we had to defend in a more compact manner.”
On injuries…
“Pobega seems to have a hip problem while Okafor seems to have a fatigue cramp. He has just recovered from a problem with his ‘other leg’.”
On the objective…
“We have to look at ourselves, do our best every day and in the next match, we will play against a team that will give its all. The goal is to get into the top four and we have to keep winning games.”
Reijnders said he believes in first place…
“My players are right to believe in it. I believe in their potential, but I believe that our next objective is Salernitana.”
Milan will face Salernitana next and that game is scheduled for Friday evening, seeing as there will be a Christmas break after that. If you want to read our ratings of the player performances in today’s game, you can do so here.