Max Allegri was ‘disappointed’ that Juventus gifted Inter an ‘avoidable’ penalty in stoppages, but insists the Coppa Italia semi-final was always going down to the wire.
The match ended 1-1 and as the away goals rule no longer counts from this season, that means it is all to play for in the second leg on April 26 at San Siro.
Juan Cuadrado opened the scoring with an angled drive after he was left unmarked at the back post, but deep into stoppages Gleison Bremer’s foolish handball allowed Romelu Lukaku to convert the equalising penalty.
The chaos started there, with Lukaku shouting something at the crowd behind the goal and receiving a second yellow card for those gestures.
Moments later, the final whistle came and another fight erupted between Samir Handanovic and Cuadrado, who again were both shown red cards.
“I don’t know what happened, as I went into the tunnel after the final whistle. It’s nothing, just a bit of chaos at the end of a balanced game, we knew it would be difficult. Although they were coming off a difficult period, they are still Inter and proved it tonight,” Allegri told Sport Mediaset.
“We were improving as the game wore on, sped the moves up more and had more bodies in the box. It is disappointing, the game was over and we should’ve pressed them higher, Kostic should’ve been smarter and get closer to Dumfries, then there was this naïve error, but it was overall a balanced match and a draw is fair.
“Both teams had chances and possession, that is football. We knew that the second leg would be decisive, but it’s still avoidable conceding a goal like that 20 seconds from the end.
“The positive thing is that the lads are fired up and angry by this equaliser, but they should use it to learn from the experience and not repeat those errors. We moved the ball too slowly in the first half, we pressed Inter a bit better after the break and the sensations were good, but this is football.”
Dusan Vlahovic and Angel Di Maria failed to find the back of the net and seem to be in difficult form at the moment.
“We do need to cover the penalty area better. Federico Chiesa came on with different characteristics, we moved the ball a bit more quickly and used the wings, but let’s not forget Angel had the first chance of the game. Dusan did well too, I just had to introduce fresh legs and different characteristics to shake things up.”
Di Maria reacted angrily to being substituted and seemed to throw his shinpads.
“I am sure he was not happy to be taken off, players never are, but he was coming off international duty and I needed someone who could have more changes of pace.”
Chiesa has had several setbacks with his return to fitness after almost a year out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
“It’s all normal after such a long injury and I always said he would need these months to settle back in and then next season he will be back to his best.”