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Reaction - Montella overjoyed at Milan's astonishing derby comeback

Reaction - Montella overjoyed at Milan's astonishing derby comeback

AC Milan boss Vincenzo Montella believed that his side achieved ‘something almost unbelievable’, as they came back from two goal down to draw level in the 97th minute against arch-rivals Inter on Saturday.
 
After Milan had started off better than the nerazzurri in what seemed lset to be an open game, Gerard Deulofeu had begun to show signs of his increasing prominence every time he got the ball. Despite doing well going forward, Milan always looked prone to conceding at the other end. And that’s what happened when Antonio Candreva found the back of the net after making a run in-behind Mattia de Sciglio. While, the goal was a soft one to concede, Milan would feel that it should never have gone in.
 
Stefano Pioli’s men doubled their lead through Mauro Icardi who struck a minute before half-time, forcing many into believing that it was over already. But Milan showed immense grit and determination to draw level through a last-ditch Cristian Zapata header, after Alessio Romagnoli had pulled one back in the 83rd minute. 

 
The game is likely to go down in history as being one of the best Milan derbies in recent times and it was almost a repeat of the last one that had seen Inter draw level late through Ivan Perisic.
 
Montella was overjoyed at the result, which again proved how Milan are a side that refuse to give up. He said: "It's really exciting. We managed to come back from two goals down and we did it in the second half.
 
"We did something almost unbelievable. It was really a great emotion. I think it was a great game to watch for our fans. I'm happy with this result. We played really well in the first 30 minutes, although we should have been more patient and clinical. We conceded an easy goal."
 
"Being 2-0 down at the break was almost surreal. I'm happy with the final result. Games are all different from one another. Today I had the chance to field five players up front and I did so."
 
Montella revealed that he had met new Milan CEO Marco Fassone before the game and was happy with what the former Juventus chief told him. Montella said: "Meeting them yesterday gave me a great boost, I was happy with Fassone's words. We'll discuss the future in the next days, but I am focused on the present to make it into the Europa League this season".

 
Montella also spoke about the fact that he was happy with the performance of Gerard Deulofeu, but wants his side and the Spaniard to be more clinical in front of goal. He said: "We all told Zapata it was time to score a goal... I wasn't expecting him to score, and neither Romagnoli. Deulofeu potentially is a top-class player, but he has to be more clinical. He performed really well but when you play in that role you have to score".
 
Their next game sees them host Giovanni Martusciello’s Empoli on the 23rd of April.


Kaustubh Pandey