AC Milan boss Sergio Conceicao expressed his delight after his risky decision to continue pushing for a win despite being reduced to 10 men paid off in their match against Empoli on Saturday. The Portuguese coach made attacking substitutions, bringing on Santiago Gimenez, Rafael Leao, and Christian Pulisic, before Fikayo Tomori received his second yellow card in the 55th minute.
Empoli also had a player sent off with Luca Marianucci receiving a straight red card. Leao then headed in the opener in the 68th minute, with Gimenez sealing the 2-0 victory just eight minutes later.
Speaking to DAZN, Conceicao revealed his thought process during the game. He said, “The temptation at that moment was to take off a striker, to put in a defender, but I didn’t do it. I moved (Yunus) Musah to the right and put (Kyle) Walker in central defense and Joao Felix a bit deeper. A draw here is like a defeat for Milan, so I had to take the gamble.”
He further added, “With all due respect for Empoli’s aggressive nature and direct approach, we were the better team throughout and picked up three important points.”
Conceicao also had high praise for his new signing, Santiago Gimenez. The Mexican striker has made an impressive start to his career in Italy since joining from Feyenoord. Conceicao said, “Santi is a quality player, I had already followed him when I was at Porto. Quality works when the players are able to push outside their comfort zone and play for the greater good, which is the collective of the team. These details can bring everyone up to a higher level. When the players all understand what needs to be done, it will all be much simpler and also more enjoyable for them. This is the kind of football that I want to see.”
Milan, currently sitting seventh in Serie A with 38 points, will face Feyenoord in the Champions League knockout-stage play-offs on Wednesday.
