Abhay Singh
AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca strongly criticized the penalty decisions in his team’s recent loss to Fiorentina, likening the situation to a circus due to what he perceived as questionable calls.
Alongside his frustration with the officiating, Fonseca also recognized and admitted that his team failed to exhibit the required level of aggression during the entirety of the match, pinpointing this as a key factor contributing to their defeat.
A wild night concluded with a 2-1 Serie A victory for Fiorentina
After two penalties for Milan were saved by David de Gea and a spot kick for the hosts was stopped by Mike Maignan, Fiorentina emerged victorious in Serie A, 2-1, capping an exciting evening.
Following the incident, Fonseca expressed his opinion about the fines imposed on both sides in an unambiguous manner.
He said “I don’t like to talk about refereeing but this isn’t football. Football is about contact and a mere touch shouldn’t be enough to award a penalty, Just a simple touch can lead to a penalty; we saw that this weekend as well. It makes everyone nervous, and that creates problems – this is football, not a circus.”
“We lacked defensive aggression and strength in duels”
Despite the team’s unfortunate penalty kick, Fonseca admitted that his squad lacked quality in a number of aspects.
Fonseca said “In the first half, we lacked defensive aggression and strength in duels. The way we conceded goals clearly illustrates this; they almost always won the second balls, We weren’t disciplined in our structure.”
Milan is losing going into the international break after winning three straight Serie A games, but the Portuguese were unconcerned.
He said “In Italy, when you win, you’ve played a great match. If we don’t score, we’re the worst team in the world, just as I’m the worst coach. I know how things are,”
Matteo Gabbia, the center back for Milan, expressed his coach’s feelings on the way the team performed.
Gabbia said “We are certainly not satisfied with the initial approach. We feel this defeat, as it was our fault and we did not do our best tonight, It starts with us, I saw the right disappointment and anger in the dressing room and it can be the only positive from this very negative night. We are angry that we put in this performance.”
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