Gattuso pleased with gritty AC Milan display at Fiorentina
AC Milan may have struggled to threaten the Fiorentina goal at times on Saturday but Gennaro Gattuso was pleased with his side's display.
Gennaro Gattuso found positives in AC Milan's 1-1 draw with Fiorentina after his tired squad battled back to share the spoils at Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday. Milan's Serie A form has been inconsistent throughout the 2017-18 campaign and they went into the clash in Florence having suffered back-to-back defeats against Verona and Atalanta. However, there were positive signs with Wednesday's victory over Inter in the Coppa Italia quarter-final which Gattuso's men won in extra time thanks to Patrick Cutrone.
Calhanoglu cancels Simeone's opener
Milan's struggles in front of goal continued against the Viola with only one shot – which was off target - in the first half. When Fiorentina took the lead through Giovanni Simeone, the visitors' plight looked perilous, but Hakan Calhanoglu rescued a point three minutes later with his second league goal for the club. And that fighting spirit is something that encourages Gattuso as Milan look to turn their fortunes around in 2018.
"We didn't want to lose and knew that some of our players weren't in great shape," Gattuso told Mediaset Premium. "It's true we didn't create much in the first half, but in the second we reacted to draw and, perhaps, could even have won it. "The team is starting to have that never-say-die spirit, which might not be pretty to watch, but we work as a team now. It was a struggle in the first half, as we never found Riccardo Montolivo and Giacomo Bonaventura with our passing game. We got too deep because we didn't want to suffer under pressure. Let's not forget, Fiorentina hadn't conceded in almost 500 minutes of Serie A football. It wasn't the greatest performance, but I am happy with the way we took it on."