FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca labelled the penalty decisions in his team’s defeat by Fiorentina on Sunday as a circus, while acknowledging his side lacked aggression throughout the match.
A wild night concluded with a 2-1 Serie A victory for Fiorentina after Milan had two penalties saved by David de Gea, while the hosts had a spot kick kept out by Mike Maignan.
In the aftermath, Fonseca was unequivocal in his assessment of the penalties given for both sides.
“I don’t like to talk about refereeing but this isn’t football. Football is about contact and a mere touch shouldn’t be enough to award a penalty,” he told DAZN.
“Just a simple touch can lead to a penalty; we saw that this weekend as well. It makes everyone nervous, and that creates problems – this is football, not a circus.”
Fonseca acknowledged that, despite their misfortune from the penalty spot, his team were deficient in several areas.
“In the first half, we lacked defensive aggression and strength in duels. The way we conceded goals clearly illustrates this; they almost always won the second balls,” he said.
“We weren’t disciplined in our structure.”
After three consecutive Serie A wins, Milan head into the international break with a loss, but the Portuguese was unfazed.
“In Italy, when you win, you’ve played a great match. If we don’t score, we’re the worst team in the world, just as I’m the worst coach. I know how things are,” he said.
Milan centre-back Matteo Gabbia echoed his coach’s sentiments regarding the team’s performance.
“We are certainly not satisfied with the initial approach. We feel this defeat, as it was our fault and we did not do our best tonight,” he said.
“It starts with us, I saw the right disappointment and anger in the dressing room and it can be the only positive from this very negative night. We are angry that we put in this performance.”
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
