'Inter Did More Than Us': Gennaro Gatusso Laments AC Milan Performance Following Derby Day Defeat
AC Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso has conceded his team lacked courage as they went down 1-0 thanks to a late Mauro Icardi goal in the Milan derby.
Mateo Musacchio had the ball in the net for Milan in the first half, but it was correctly ruled offside by the officials. This was Milan’s only real chance as Icardi’s header broke Milan hearts in the first Derby della Madonnina of the season.
Francesco Pecoraro/GettyImages
“Inter certainly deserved more than us, but if this game had ended 0-0, there would’ve been some real positives, said Gattuso, as quoted by Football Italia.
“We played a style of physical football that we don’t like to play, but we did it well enough. We could’ve passed it better and done better on the counter. Since the start of the season my team hasn’t really held out for 90 minutes, but this time we held out so well even with the many set plays.
“The only regrets are that in the last 15 minutes we had so many counter-attacks and didn’t make the most of them. We intercepted four or five passes and went clear on goal, but kept choosing the wrong final ball. That’s the biggest regret. Overall, it has to be said that Inter did more than us.”
Gattuso couldn’t help but feel it was a team effort that cost his side against their local rivals: “I don’t want to pick on individuals. There were errors from everyone in defence, as Ignazio Abate went down too quickly to block the pass, Musacchio misread the cross too. We lost the game together, not because of Donnarumma.
“We lost because we didn’t play with the right courage, we were distracted and conceded a naïve goal. Calhanoglu was starting to look tired and I didn’t want to change the tactical system, because other than set plays we had never really suffered until then.
“Inter are physically stronger, we have other qualities. We tried to challenge them physically anyway and I really liked the approach, playing a type of football we are not accustomed to. We had our chances too, but undoubtedly Inter had more opportunities.”
