AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri was full of praise for his team after the 3-0 demolition of arch rivals Inter in the Milan derby on Saturday.
But he still had time to tell off star midfielder Antonio Cassano, who was sent off after scoring a late penalty which wrapped up the result.
?It?s a shame about Cassano and unfortunately there is this habit of taking your shirt off to celebrate. Antonio knew that was the case and could?ve avoided the foul later on,” Allegri said.
Cassano received two yellow cards for celebrating by taking his shirt off and then fouling Ivan Cordoba.
But Allegri preferred to concentrate on the positive points from the win, of which there were many.
“It is not the game that wins the Scudetto, even if we?ve given our table a good boost,? he said.
“After the last few weeks this success can be a psychological turning point. We were too slow in the first half and didn?t finish off our moves, while we did better after the break.”
The victory is more than deserved and the team did a great job.?
Alexandre Pato, who scored twice, and Clarence Seedorf were singled out.
“Pato had a great game and was very good at attacking the two Inter centre-backs,? continued Allegri.
“Robinho had some important opportunities to score, but overall played a good game. Seedorf?s performance was extraordinary, showing all his quality.?
Milan were top of the table, but felt like the underdogs before this derby, having picked up one point from two games against Bari and Palermo.
?I gave the lads some suggestions and they tried to follow my requests. They played very well, proving the games against Bari and Palermo were just blips, albeit ones that are sometimes necessary,? Allegri said.
Inter Milan coach Leonardo said he had not given up on the Scudetto but it would be tougher now.
“I don’t think we have surrendered, but five points in seven games is a lot. However, anything can happen,” Leonardo said.
“Their goal after one minute made our game plan jump, and for 20 minutes we just weren’t there mentally.”
“We tried to get back into the match and hoped for a better second half, but Cristian Chivu’s dismissal conditioned our chances of recovering.”
“We really struggled in front of goal and we couldn’t find the space to create. There was little movement and no action.”
Inter face Schalke on Tuesday in the Champions League and Leonardo added that he was keen to focus on that.
“Now we have to think about Schalke,” he said.
”We have lots of positive things to look forward to, so let’s do that. We take this defeat and dive into the Champions League now.”
Sun 3 April, 2011
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