It is difficult to deduce whether AC Milan’s draw against Roma is one point gained or two dropped, but the fall-out from the game continues.
As MilanNews reports, Massimiliano Allegri’s attitude during injury time told us his thoughts. With a free-kick for Milan in the dying seconds of the game, instead of opting for the more traditional long balls into the penalty area, the coach encouraged Modric to play calmly to let time wind down.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
There will be plenty of room to discuss the tactical nature of the match. On the face of things, Milan gained one point on Napoli and maintained their lead over Roma. Inter are now five points away, but the Scudetto isn’t the objective this season.
Allegri confirmed this in his response to a question in the post-match press conference: “Regarding Inter, we’re not thinking about things, but about ourselves. It’s a difficult period. We’re continuing to play away from home.
“In the last few games, we’ve played six away and three at home. We’re thinking one thing at a time. As I always say, Milan’s goal is to finish in the top four. Whether someone has the ambition to do their best is another matter, but the reality is that Milan must finish in the top four.
“We’re currently second, but we still have a long way to go. And there’s a lot to improve on. Athekame came on and had a good game, and De Winter is also growing well. So, let’s stay calm, keep our feet on the ground, and focus on what we have to do.”
Notable incidents
The report relays two stories that concern individual players. The first in chronological order is Alexis Saelemaekers’ night, upon his return to the Stadio Olimpico that he called home last season.
The Belgian – with only one full training session under his belt after suffering an adductor strain – started the game and was showered with jeers. After a courageous dribble and shot as his first move he then retreated, suffering from fitness and a hostile environment.
More strange is Mike Maignan’s yellow card. The goalkeeper – while preparing to try and save Pellegrini’s penalty – was inadvertently hit on the foot by referee Colombo. He wasn’t happy with the decision either, as he revealed post-match.
The Frenchman reacted with an angry gesture, clearly unhappy that the referee had come into contact with him. A yellow card was issued to Maignan when more leniency was possible, especially with the official largely at fault.
The yellow was largely for wasting deliberately time to get on the nerves of Pellegrini. The accidental step/hit from the ref probably resulted in some quiet remark from Maignan – they were literally shoulder to shoulder, but Mike never got off the killer look after that decision.
In my opinion, the ref was overall poor – not so much for the penalty decision as it is half expected nowadays in Italy and I don’t think it was intentional against us. Just a stupid read of the game or fear of sanctions post-match. It’s a situation where the refs know they will not be sanctioned if they blow the whistle but could be in trouble if they don’t.
However, he let way too many situations play through where a foul was obvious. Not severe ones that needed bookings, but nevertheless all players got frustrated and became more reckless. Surprisingly, not sure how Rabiot didn’t end up with a second yellow.
Everything the ref did leading to Mike’s yellow card was wrong, why on earth would he handle the player? If it was a Roma player doing that, it will be an all out fracas, the referee shouldn’t be doing that in that situation, he was a Roma fan on that night and he didn’t hide it.