Pioli

Stefano Pioli was very happy with the win when he spoke to Premium Sport: “To be honest, every victory is sweet. We knew it was going to be a tough match against a difficult opponent. Also Juventus and Lazio won here after a lot of suffering. We avoided shots on our goal which is good, we have to continue like this, maybe there are some situations were we can improve but it’s an important victory. The other teams in front of us continue to do well, we can only think about ourselves since we depend on how top teams do.”

Regarding the red card and himself being sent off from the bench, Pioli had the following to say: “I stepped out of the technical zone but after the play was stopped. I think the fourth referee said nothing was goin to happen, then I saw the second yellow card on Ansaldi and wanted explanations. I thought it would be resolved in another way, but I made a mistake and had to pay for it.”

After reviewing the images Pioli continues: “It’s important to emphasise that the bad weather made the pitch slippery and this causes a lot of hard duels. The referee has international experience, but Ansaldi never intended to cause neither a foul nor any damage. I think there should have been a free-kick awarded to Palermo, but nothing else. Both players went for the ball and the slippery pitch made it look worse than it was. For me that is not a yellow card. It was unfortunate to play with only 10 men, but it seems that we like to suffer a lot when we win. The players performed well and we didn’t concede a lot of chances.”

About the crosses from Perisic and Candreva and the midfielders entering the area: “We are the team that produces the most crosses in the championship and our objective is to have a lot players in the box. Well done by Joao Mario to be in the right spot, the more people we have in the area the bigger chance to create an opportunity. Now we continue like this, we have had three tough games now in a week. Pescara, Lazio and Juventus is up and there is still much work to do.”

Source: Premium Sport