‘Fiorentina played better than us’ – Pioli on AC Milan’s defeat against La Viola

AC Milan’s troubles in 2023 expanded with another dismal 2-1 defeat against Fiorentina in Serie A last night.

The Rossoneri were seemingly recovered from their woeful form with four consecutive victories, but they relapsed with a setback against La Viola.

Fikayo Tomori’s foul handed the hosts a penalty shortly after the second half, with Nico Gonzalez making no mistake from the spot to send Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan the other way.

Luka Jovic put Milan to the sword with a thunderous header from Dodo’s cross before Theo Hernandez scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes.

The defeat sent them down to fourth position in Serie A, and they are hanging onto the final Champions League spot by a thread.

Manager Stefano Pioli offered his thoughts on the loss, stating that La Viola were way better than his side.

“We prepared the game well, but Fiorentina did better than us especially in the first half, in terms of quality and energy, as they won most of the duels,” Pioli said (h/t Football Italia).

“We did better in the second half and had chances to equalise, while we should’ve done better on the penalty, but the first half performance was not good enough.”

“That is not because our minds were on Tottenham – we simply should’ve done better in many areas.

“There are many games to go this season, but this is a setback that we could’ve done without. It was not the same performance we saw against Atalanta last week.”

However, Pioli believes the setback will not affect their morale heading into the Champions League game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Milan travel to London in a few days for the second leg of their last-16 tie leading Spurs 1-0.

The Lilywhites have also struggled lately, suffering three defeats in their last five games. They were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League yesterday.

“It will be a different match,” Pioli added. “It’s a knockout round and tonight’s performance won’t influence us, just as Tottenham’s two consecutive defeats won’t influence them.

“It is a very important match for both teams – we will both play to the best of our abilities.”