Pioli: ‘Milan bitter, made life difficult for ourselves with Roma’

Stefano Pioli concedes Milan feel ‘bitter’ at the 2-2 draw with Roma, as they had been in complete control. ‘We made life difficult for ourselves and must remember matches end at the 95^th minute.’

The Rossoneri will be kicking themselves after this 2-2 draw at San Siro, as they were leading 2-0 through Pierre Kalulu’s diving header and a Tommaso Pobega strike on Rafael Leao’s assist.

Roma didn’t have a shot on target until that Roger Ibanez free header on a corner at the 87^th minute, but Ciprian Tatarusanu only parried another Nemanja Matic header into the path of Tammy Abraham for 2-2 in stoppages.

“We made substitutions to replace those who were tired, add fresh legs, but also introduce Pobega, Gabbia and Vranckx to give us more height,” Pioli told DAZN.

“It’s a huge pity to emerge from this game with only a point, that’s for sure. After a game like this, we tell the players that we must continue playing like this, but that matches end at the 95^th minute and you have to stay focused throughout.

“If you concede two goals on set plays, where we knew our opponents were very strong, that means more focus was needed. It’s difficult to talk to the team at this moment, as we played well and until the 87^th minute fully deserved to win, but then rather made life difficult for ourselves.”

Substitute Aster Vranckx gave away an avoidable free kick, from which Pellegrini whipped in the ball for the equaliser.

“He was a bit too aggressive, but when you give hope to an opponent, they will believe to the end and we should’ve defended those situations better. It’s tough to swallow, as we played so well and didn’t bring home the victory.”

Milan seemed tired as the game wore on, as they had the same XI that beat Salernitana on Wednesday.

“Right now, I don’t think we’ll have any of the other players recovered for the next game. We play every three days, it’s tough for everyone with this fixture list. Our fitness levels are not an issue for those who aren’t injured, but clearly this was not the result we wanted.”

This result means Milan are caught in second place by Juventus, sitting seven points behind leaders Napoli.

“It is a bitter sensation, obviously. We are not looking at the gap from Napoli, just our performances and knowing we need to do better to keep up the pace. We should’ve done better and now must improve in the next games.”

Pioli was asked about reports that Ismael Bennacer and Rafael Leao are now close to signing new deals to stay at San Siro.

“If you say so… In all honesty, I would love to never again talk to the media about contracts and injuries, so we can just focus on the games.”