Vincenzo Montella was full of praise for the patience that his side showed to break Genoa down, as the Rossoneri picked up a vital 1-0 win over Andrea Mandorlini's men at San Siro on Saturday evening.
 

Genoa lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, which was enough to suggest that they will look to sit deep in their own half and invite Milan to break forward on the with pace. Hitman Giovanni Simeone started up front as Adel Taraabt managed to get his first start after a period of around two months.
 

Milan were deployed in the familiar 4-3-3 formation, that saw Matias Fernandez make his sixth appearance and earn his second start of the season after having joined on loan from Fiorentina last summer. Gianluca Lapdula started for the suspended Carlos Bacca, while Cristian Zapata played at centre-half for Alessio Romagnoli, who was also serving a suspension.
 

It was Fernandez's 33rd minute strike that proved to be the difference in a game that saw Milan enjoy 62 percent of possession. Genoa were denying Milan any space to play with and were tough to breakdown throughout the game. Montella praised his side's patience for being successful in breaking down Mandorlini's men, stating that: “I think we had a very good game, understanding we needed patience to keep the ball longer than even was necessary, because there were so few spaces."


 

“Nonetheless, we created three or four clear opportunities in the first half that we could’ve done better on. In the second half Genoa did practically nothing and we controlled the situation. It might not have been hugely entertaining and we should’ve moved the ball quicker, but ultimately we got three much-needed points to go into the international break."
 

“There are no easy games, we’ll have to just keep going and I think if we maintain the form we’ve had so far, we will get into Europe. The trip to Pescara will also be tricky, as they’ll start to assimilate Zdenek Zeman’s tactics.”
 

Montella was quick to single out goalscorer Fernandez for praise. The 30-year-old became the first ever Chilean to score a goal for the Rossoneri. Montella declared: “Mati Fernandez is a lovely guy, it’s good to watch him train, even better to watch him play and score.”
 

The former Fiorentina boss admitted that Andrea Bertolacci's early injury forced Milan to re-think their tactics and shape, as Manuel Locatelli came on to replace the former Genoa player. Montella said: “We had prepared for the game by rotating the attackers constantly and trying to spread the Genoa defence, as we expected them to keep it tight and deep."

"Bertolacci’s injury made things a bit more complicated, so we had to change things around and made the most of this double or even triple passing move. Compared to how we had initially planned the game, we had to push more in certain ways than others."


 

The win momentarily lifted the rossoneri to sixth. Milan are now two points adrift of city rivals Inter, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Sinisa Mihajlovic's Torino on Saturday. Milan will travel to rock-bottom Pescara after the international break and will look to complete the double over Zdenek Zeman's side.



Kaustubh Pandey