AC Milan boss Vincenzo Montella was defeated but not unbowed despite the narrow 2-1 loss at the hands of Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli at San Siro on Saturday.

 

Milan stuck to their usual 4-3-3 shape, that saw Jose Sosa replace the suspended Manuel Locatelli and Gustavo Gomez drafted into the starting XI in place of Alessio Romagnoli. Giacomo Bonaventura kept his place on the left of the front three and so did Mario Pasalic, who started on Sosa’s right. Napoli lined up in a similar 4-3-3 formation and the only change they made from their win against Pescara saw Allan come in for summer signing Piotr Zielinski in midfield.

 

The rossoneri ended up conceding after just six minutes after Lorenzo Insigne's effort flew past goalkeeper Donnarumma and they fell further behind three minutes later as Jose Callejon grabbed the visitors second. Juraj Kucka’s goal in the 36th minute could only act as a consolation as Milan tried desperately to find the equaliser.

 

Despite the loss, which dents the Rossoneri’s hopes of making next season's Champions League, manager Vincenzo Montella was happy with his side’s spirited showing. The Neapolitan born tactician declaring that: "We tried to control the game. But they did well to take advantage of the two chances they had. We did well to react and played really well against a top team".

 

Montella also revealed that he was satisfied with the performance that his side came up with, despite conceding twice very early in the game. He explained that: "I am satisfied with the team’s performance if we look at who were our opponents. It was a really tough test, and I would say we passed it. This match has to give us more confidence for the future".

 

 

He also heaped praise on the hunger that Milan showed in giving Napoli a run for their money. "I don’t know if we need more hunger. We surely need to have more conviction, especially the wingers who have to create more chances".

 

Montella also talked up the issue of improvement following the game, as the rossoneri failed to win in consecutive outings for only the second time this season; "We still have to improve but I think the boys have to believe in what we can achieve. If we compare this game to the one we played in Naples in August we played way better. We are on another level".

 

The defeat leaves Milan seven points adrift of Napoli, who currently sit in third place in the Serie A standings. The games come thick and fast for Montella’s men; their next assignment sees them travel to Turin to take on Max Allegri’s Juve in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday evening in what will be the sides’ third meeting of the season.



Kaustubh Pandey