Football
ESPN staff 8y

Sinisa Mihajlovic: AC Milan 'lucky to scrape a point' against Atalanta

Sinisa Mihajlovic said AC Milan "were certainly lucky to scrape a point" in their goalless draw with Atalanta and hailed the potential of 16-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Milan could not find the goal that would have given them their fourth straight win, but the play of Donnarumma ensured they stayed unbeaten in their last six games.

The win pulled Milan up to fifth place overnight, three points outside of the Champions League places, and Mihajlovic said the top three remains his goal.

"This is a Milan with the quality to target our objective, which is the top three. It seems a bit premature to talk about targets and ambitions when we're 12 rounds in," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"We were certainly lucky to scrape a point, as we were not the same side that beat Lazio. I don't want to look for excuses, but we were missing Jack Bonaventura, Andrea Bertolacci and Alex, who until now have been some of our best performers.

"The replacements hadn't played much this season, so they kept going as long as they had steam left. We had some players who hadn't had a full game, others who needed late fitness tests."

The hosts had Donnarumma to thank after the teenager made a number saves to keep the visitors at bay. He did brilliantly to get down low and parry Luca Cigarini's second-half header. Moments later the teenager was alert again as he responded quickly to push away Maximiliano Moralez's effort at the near post. The youngster frustrated the away side once more, making a fine save with his feet on an effort from Grassi.

"Gigio Donnarumma had to make more saves than he has done before and proved he's a really good goalkeeper with a bright future," Mihajlovic said.

Atalanta forward Alejandro Gomez credited Donnarumma for keeping the score level.

"Their goalkeeper was excellent this evening and the only thing we were missing tonight was the goal," Gomez said. "Donnarumma was really impressive, as it's not easy at the age of 16 to wear the Milan jersey."

Mihajlovic gave a first start of the season to M'Baye Niang, who rewarded his manager with a string of dangerous attacks.

"M'Baye Niang has certainly improved a lot since he went to Genoa," Mihajlovic said. "He's physically strong, technically gifted and represents an extra resource for us."

In return, Niang backed his manager, who has been under pressure to succeed at the San Siro.

"I have an excellent rapport with the Coach," the 20-year-old said. "He makes me work hard and we got on from the first day we met. He can help me in many different ways. Milan really needed a coach like Mihajlovic."

Mihajlovic was able to laugh about his late dismissal, when he kicked a water bottle towards the fourth official.

"I was wrong to kick the bottle, but I was angry with my own players, not the referee. If I'd wanted to hit him with the bottle, I would've got it on target," he said.

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