Stefano Pioli concedes Milan were ‘frenetic, distracted and made mistakes’ in their 2-2 draw with Salernitana. ‘It’s positive we got it back for a draw, but we came here to win.’
The Rossoneri had taken the lead early on through Junior Messias, but rock bottom Salernitana making their debut under new coach Davide Nicola refused to give in.
Federico Bonazzoli equalised with an acrobatic overhead kick after Mike Maignan’s howler, then Milan Djuric turned it around through his diving header.
Another Maignan error almost gifted Bonazzoli, denied by an Alessio Romagnoli goal-line clearance, but Ante Rebic drilled in from distance for 2-2.
Serie A | Salernitana 2-2 Milan: Leaders scrape a point at rock bottom Salerno
“The team did not play well in terms of technique and choices. We were frenetic, not clean in our passing, didn’t make the most of the spaces and paid a heavy price for some naïve errors,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had started strong and took the lead, but we should’ve been more balanced on their goals and read the situations better. We were too frenetic and had several big chances to restore our lead after the break, but didn’t take them.
“We are disappointed because we didn’t play our usual football. Of course, we are disappointed, because we could’ve played better. The worrying thing is we started well, but then made mistakes that lately we haven’t been making and this frenetic energy took over, we were distracted on the goals with the preventative marking.
“It’s positive that we got it back for a draw, but we cannot deny we came here looking for the win. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes and do better next time.”
Salernitana were making their debut under new coach Nicola, their third tactician of the campaign.
“I was on the Salernitana bench almost 20 years ago. It feels like a lifetime ago.”
Rafael Leao had a big chance to put Milan 2-1 up, but hesitated and was caught out by Ederson.
“I told him off because he kept coming too deep to get the ball and I wanted him to attack the space. He tried to take men on, but a lot of our players weren’t having a good night.
“Mind you, if he had scored with that overhead kick, we’d be talking about him and the game differently. I was on the bench and I swore that was in…”