MY ACCOUNT
Stefano Pioli is remaining positive despite AC Milan missing the chance to go top of Serie A with a 1-1 derby draw against Inter Milan at San Siro.
Former Rossoneri midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu scored an early penalty before Stefan de Vrij’s own goal levelled the scores, and Ciprian Tatarusanu was needed to deny Lautaro Martinez after a second spot-kick was conceded.
However, the result means Milan have picked up 32 points in the opening 12 games of a Serie A season for the first time in the three-points-for-a-win era (since 1994-95) and remain unbeaten in the league after 12 games.
Rossoneri boss Pioli feels there is plenty to be encouraged by from his side’s season so far and from the performance against reigning champions Inter.
“The glass is half-full,” Pioli said to DAZN. “You aim to win, but it was complicated, the team showed a lot of spirit and we struggled a bit too much in the first half, but then emerged after the break.
“In all of Europe’s top five Leagues, only Napoli and Milan are still unbeaten this season, and that says a lot about how we are doing.
“Inter are a strong side and we proved that we are strong too. It was a positive performance. Look at the average age difference for the starting 11 between Milan and Inter.
“We needed time to gain that experience, form that confidence and now we can fight it out with the best in Serie A. There can be difficulties, but we showed courage tonight again and both teams had the opportunities to win.
“We made a naive error on the penalty but maintained our ideas and approach to turn this around. We could’ve sought Zlatan Ibrahimovic more, as we didn’t give him enough service, but it’s also true that we fought for every ball and never stepped back.
“We were courageous in attack, but also in defence, where we accepted one-on-one situations with players like Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez. We were eager to bring home another positive result.”
Ante Rebic’s introduction off the bench following his recovery from an ankle injury coincided with Milan’s best period of the game and Pioli was full of praise for the 28-year-old, while admitting that Rafael Leao looked a little jaded after featuring in every game for the club so far this season.
“Ante is very important, as he has that change of pace and is very aggressive,” Pioli continued. “We saw Rafael Leao was a little less sharp tonight, inevitably because he played practically every game for the last three weeks.”
Milan travel to face Fiorentina after the international break as they look to maintain their unbeaten league record and keep the pressure on Napoli in the title race.
