'We were focused and in control,' says AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli after the 4-0 Coppa Italia quarter-final win over Lazio

The semi-final will be against their city rivals Inter, the only round of the competition to be played over two legs.

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli; Credit: Twitter/@jmancini8
By Sreejith C R | Feb 10, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli was delighted with his side’s performance in the 4-0 thrashing of Lazio in the Coppa Italia quarter-final fixture at San Siro on Wednesday. The Italian tactician felt that his side “were focused and in control for the full 90 minutes”. Rafael Leao opened the scoring for the hosts mid-way through the first half before Olivier Giroud scored a brace. Eleven minutes from time, Franck Kessie sealed the win with Milan’s fourth of the night. The semi-final will be against their city rivals Inter, the only round of the competition to be played over two legs.

“We made the most of the derby victory to give ourselves even more energy, belief and conviction. The whole atmosphere is very positive, we were focused and in control for the full 90 minutes,” Pioli told Sport Mediaset.

Leao broke the deadlock in the 24th minute. Alessio Romagnoli played a brilliant through ball from the back to release Leao on goal. The Portuguese forward dribbled forward before sweeping the ball past Pepe Reina into the far bottom corner with the inside of his left boot.

The home side doubled the lead in the 41st minute. Brahim Diaz spreaded the ball to Leao on the left side of the penalty area. The 22-year-old skipped past defenders with a shimmy and rolled the ball across the six-yard box for Giroud to tap-in.

Giroud is a strong center-forward: Pioli

Few minutes later, Giroud scored his second of the night from Theo Hernandez’s low cross. It was Giroud’s second brace in two successive matches. All ten of his goals were scored in the San Siro.

“He had started the season very well, but had problems with his back and ankle, so needed time to get back into shape. He is a strong centre-forward, but the whole team did well tonight and we must continue like this.”

Pioli’s side will play two editions of  Milan derby as the semi-final will be played over two legs.

“These are always special games to prepare and very stimulating, the Coppa Italia is a competition both clubs want to win, so we will try to give our best against opponents we know are very strong.”

Milan made it 4-0 when Daniel Maldini’s free-kick ricocheted off Luiz Felipe and Manuel Lazzari, falling kindly for Kessie to drill home from eight yards out.





Related Post

HIGHLIGHTS

Buzzwords