AC Milan coach Pioli frustrated with Atalanta draw: Never a penalty

AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli insists they deserved more from their 1-1 draw against Atalanta.

Rafael Leao had Milan ahead before Olivier Giroud gave away a penalty for handball with Teun Koopmeiners converting successfully.

“It is not enough for a penalty in my view, for two reasons," Pioli told DAZN.

“Firstly, Holm puts his hands on his face and there was no contact with his face. Secondly, it was not enough for the general approach that Orsato takes, as he is a European referee and he generally lets play run and gives few free kicks.

“Giroud does absolutely nothing and if Holm doesn't bring his hands to his face and go down, nobody would notice. He was smart."

Pioli continued: “We dropped two points today, because if there is one team that deserved to win, it was us. In order to win, you need to score one more goal than the opponents, so that is a pity.

“I feel it was certainly the best performance my Milan had against Atalanta. We played with character, quality, did not allow them hardly any shots on goal, but we should've scored a few more ourselves.

“It is the best performance of the week, it was our fifth game in 15 days, so there are many positive things, but not the result. We deserved the victory.

“We wanted parity in midfield and Yacine Adli kept a close eye on Koopmeiners. Atalanta have a very unusual way of playing, almost unique, in that their forwards are quite wide. Yacine gave us a bit of coverage in the central area.

“Our defenders also did good work and won most of the individual duels."