AC Milan were held to a 2-2 draw by newly promoted Pisa at the San Siro. Despite taking the lead early on in the game thanks to a Rafael Leao long-range strike, the Rossoneri failed to capitalise on the numerous
opportunities and ultimately had to settle for a point.
Goals from Juan Cuadrado and M’Bala Nzola handed Pisa the lead late, but veteran Luka Modric lined up youngster Zachary Athekame in added time to share the spoils. While the Croatian was awarded the Player of the Match, he was not happy with his team’s performance, who failed to cement their position at the top of the pile and are now vulnerable to being overtaken.
Massimiliano Allegri delivered a mixed reaction in his post-match press conference, where he felt satisfied with his side’s overall showing but pointed out the frailties that made them devoid of the valuable three points. The Italian manager summed up the match to Sky Sport (via Gianluca Di Marzio), “We’re happy with the result we got in the end, the draw. Where do I think we went wrong? Once we were ahead, we should have closed the game out, at least made it 2-0 because they were in trouble, and we didn’t do that”.
Allegri pointed out the gap that his men left in midfield as the forwards were playing much higher up the field, leaving a significant distance between them and the midfielders. He said: “At the same time, we were too long because the two forwards were far from the midfielders when not in possession, and there were too many gaps in the midfield. We weren’t good at staying compact after the 1-0.”
While the Milan manager expressed displeasure with dropping points in a match against a newly promoted side near the end of his presser, he remained confident by at least grabbing a point to add to his team’s tally in the Serie A. He concluded the conference by saying, “We’re disappointed and disappointed; in the long run,
it will be a significant point for our seasonal objective. We didn’t lose, and that’s a positive thing; at the same time, it will help us improve many things.”
