Following a dramatic 1-0 win over Roberto Donadoni’s Bologna, AC Milan boss Vincenzo Montella was full of praise for his side’s resolute showing and hailed the performance of Italian midfielder Andrea Poli.

 

The game saw Milan see red twice as Gabriel Paletta and Juraj Kucka both left proceedings early. Despite creating a host of opportunities, Bologna failed to get the goal that would have separated the two sides and surely won the game. In the end though, it was a Mario Pasalic strike that handed Milan all three points at Stadio Renato Dall’ara.

 

A late, defensive substitution in the second half saw Andrea Poli come on for Carlos Bacca. The Italian, who played just 28 minutes of the game, came up with an inspired showing and played a vital role in denying the Rossoblu leaving Montella gushing in praise for the player who wasn’t 100% fit and declaring that; "I want to compliment Andrea Poli because in a moment of great difficulty he was absolutely essential and helped out every single team-mate.”

 

He continued by stating that; "He came on and did great, then he had an injury too so we were basically down to eight and a half men. But he worked so hard and I wanted to single him out for praise.”

 

Apart from heaping praise on the 27-year-old, Montella also spoke of how impressive the win was and hailed the fighting spirit in the side. The former Fiorentina gaffer said: "It is a great victory that is worth more than three points, as it proves this is a team with the attributes of spirit and organisation. We needed this to show ourselves that this spirit was within us and it was a victory earned with sheer determination."

 

Montella also said that the recent run, in which Milan had failed to win a single game in five outings, was down to the injuries that the Rossoneri are currently grappling with; “Naturally there are peaks and troughs in any season, but our biggest problems were many injuries and defeats in quick succession - freakish defeats.We lost to Napoli and Juventus who are stronger than us on paper, then against Udinese and Sampdoria we lost the kind of games you usually lose once a season. Our misfortune was losing them all consecutively. Those results made it look as if we were having a crisis but we absolutely were not. The results were bad, not the performances.

 

Montella also revealed as to what his team-talk at half-time consisted of and how the win proves the sound mentality that the side has: "I told the lads at half-time that this was a game that needed to be a turning point. I had seen teams down to 10 men turn games around, but winning with nine men was even more extraordinary."