Gennaro Gattuso Admits AC Milan Missed Their Opportunity To Beat Sassuolo

AC Milan head coach Gennaro Gattuso has admitted that the Rossoneri missed their opportunity to secure a victory over Sassuolo at the San Siro. The Rossoneri had the chance to close the gap to the top-four after both AS Roma and Inter Milan succumbed to defeats, but they could not make their chances pay against mid-table Sassuolo.

The Rossoneri dominated the game from the off, but they were denied on several occasions by goalkeeper Andrea Consigli through the first period. In the second half, Gattuso gambled with Andre Silva entering the fray for Ignazio Abate, but the Portuguese’s presence could not turn the tide of the game.

Ultimately, Milan were forced to do the saving act on the night after Nikola Kalinic scored a late equaliser after Matteo Politano opened the scoring for Sassuolo in the 75th minute. Speaking after the match, Gattuso termed Milan’s stalemate as a ‘missed opportunity’ as they could not return to winning ways.

He said: “I don’t think it was an issue of one or two strikers, because we created a great deal in the first half and overall had over 20 shots on goal. What we lacked was vehemence and determination. At the end of the day, we were even lucky to get a point, as we had gone behind. You can give all sorts of reasons for fatigue, but the fact remains we were sluggish in the final third.”

With the result, the Rossoneri find themselves eight points behind fourth-placed Roma with just seven games left in the season, and they appear set to miss out on Champions League football, barring a collapse of some sort for their rivals. The Rossoneri were one of the most in-form teams heading into April, but they have since failed to pick up maximum points with two draws and one defeat in their last three league games.