Stefano Pioli says Milan are no longer happy simply playing the part of challengers in the Serie A title race and will work hard to recover from a testing stretch that now includes a derby defeat to Inter.
The Rossoneri have led the league for much of the season but slipped four points off the pace with Sunday's 3-0 home loss to their rivals at San Siro.
Lautaro Martinez added to his early opener with a second after the break, with Romelu Lukaku capping Milan's second consecutive Serie A defeat.
Pioli's side also conceded a last-ditch equaliser to Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League since losing at Spezia, their overwhelmingly positive campaign threatening to come off the rails.
Milan have now suffered four defeats in Serie A in 2021, twice as many as in the whole of the previous calendar year.
Pioli saw improvement in this performance compared to the Spezia setback, though, as Milan enjoyed 59.9 per cent of the possession and had 15 attempts, and the coach is determined to stay level-headed.
But the team's ambitions have changed over the course of the campaign and there must now be a response, he added.
"I believe that our strength has always been balance – and belief in our work," Pioli told DAZN.
"If they had told us months ago that at this point of the season we were second in the standings, we would have jumped for joy. This doesn't have to make us happy and content now.
"In these past two or three games, we have not been able to put our quality on the field. We need to get back to doing more.
"We were really poor in the Spezia game. Today we feel sorry for ourselves, for the fans, for the club, but today we played our game.
"We have to maintain clarity, positivity, and evaluate things well. When you lose, you have to work harder and this we will have to do."
While Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma became the youngest player to clock up 200 games in Serie A in the three-points-per-win era, his opposite number ensured the milestone passed with little cause for celebration.
The outstanding Samir Handanovic made eight saves, his most in a game for Inter since pulling off eight against Lazio in January 2019 and most in a Serie A outing since the same number against Juventus in December 2017.
Only three times in Handanovic's Nerazzurri career has he made more than eight stops in a match.
The keeper denied Zlatan Ibrahimovic on five occasions as the veteran Milan superstar failed to add to his tally of 10 Milan derby goals.
Pioli recognised Handanovic's display but refused to criticise Ibrahimovic, who was withdrawn after 75 minutes with cramp in his calf.
"A centre-forward is conditioned by the performance of the team," he said. "In the first half, we did not have the accuracy in the plays, in the final pass.
"In the second half, then we created and had scoring chances. It is a long time since Samir Handanovic saved so often and so well. It is a difficult week, but we will recover."
Just one of Handanovic's saves came in the first half and Pioli rued Milan's slow start as he reflected on the match as a whole.
"The goal immediately after five minutes weighed heavily," he said. "We struggled to find the rhythm, intensity and quality that was needed to find spaces.
"We let Inter play the game where they are strongest.
"In the second half, we were succeeding but we were unable to score in our best moment. Then came the second goal.
"I have nothing to say about the second half of my team; in the first half, we had to do something more."
Mexico 1-0 Bolivia: Experimental El Tri boost Copa America preparations with narrow win
A youthful Mexico stepped up their Copa America preparations with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bolivia in Chicago.
Efrain Alvarez's second-half strike proved enough for El Tri, who fielded eight debutants at Soldier Field.
Two of those debutants went close early on; Ricardo Monreal heading against the bar and Ettson Ayon testing Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Lampe, while Ramiro Vaca fired over for the visitors later in the half.
However, the hosts did find the breakthrough within two minutes of the restart, as Monreal squared for Alvarez to control and finish.
El Tri, who will face Ecuador, Jamaica and Venezuela in Group B at the Copa America, will play Uruguay and Brazil before the tournament begins on June 20.
Data Debrief: Mexico maintain Bolivia dominance
Mexico are now unbeaten in each of their last 10 meetings with Bolivia, winning nine and conceding just two goals during that span.
A 3-1 reverse at the 1997 Copa America represents El Tri's only defeat in this fixture.
New York City FC 5-1 San Jose Earthquakes: Martinez hat-trick maintains NYCFC winning streak
Alonso Martinez scored a hat-trick as New York City FC maintained their impressive MLS form with a 5-1 rout of San Jose Earthquakes.
Hannes Wolf and Santiago Rodriguez were also on target for Nick Cushing's side, who made it five wins on the bounce to move into third place in the Eastern Conference.
After a goalless first half at Yankee Stadium, the hosts broke through within five minutes of the restart through Wolf. However, the lead only lasted three minutes, with Amahl Pellegrino levelling the contest.
Rodriguez drove City back in front in the 80th minute before Martinez took centre stage late on. The Costa Rica international struck with five minutes remaining, while completing a quickfire treble with a further goals in stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Martinez makes franchise history
That was, indeed, a quickfire hat-trick from Martinez - in fact, it was the fastest registered by an NYCFC player in MLS history.
The hosts have now won five successive matches for the first time since 2019, while their ninth win of the season matches their tally for the whole of last term.
Starting again: Busby, Blackwood confident reunited Girlz will give good account against Brazil
It’s a case of picking up where they left off –or at least Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz will try to do so against Brazil at the Arena de Pernambuco in Recife on Saturday at 3:00pm Jamaica time.
While they held the South American powerhouse to a goalless stalemate at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia, the Girlz were on a more competitive war path back then with much to prove.
The same cannot be said about the team on this occasion, as this encounter will mark the first assignment together for that World Cup core group in almost nine months. This, as they last played together in September last year when they lost to Canada in the Olympic qualifying playoff.
Though their confidence is high, the 42nd-ranked Jamaicans will be up against a more youthful Brazilian outfit, as the number 10-ranked nation is gradually transitioning from its veterans Marta, Tamires and Cristiane, just to name a few. In fact, this two-match friendly series which is part of Brazil’s preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris, are expected to mark the official sendoff of the legendary Marta, into retirement.
Still, Reggae Girlz defender Deneisha Blackwood is backing the team to give a good account in the Brazilians backyard.
“Both countries are a lot similar in terms of physicality and technical abilities, so I feel it's a good game for us to bring back our team forward again. In terms of scoreline, I can't really predict what the score line will be, but I can promise that it's going to be a good game,” Blackwood said during a pre-game conference on Friday.
“Our team is very good in terms of the camaraderie, so the moment we got back together, it's like we never left. Yes, we haven't been together for the last nine months, but you couldn't tell. I feel like our group is just so well put together. Obviously, every team has its challenges, but I feel like our mindset when we're together is always to be better, so whether we're apart for nine months or two months, it's just always been a good team environment,” she added.
Meanwhile, Head coach Hubert Busby explained that while they will be seeking to build on their defensive fortitude that earned the historic draws against France and Brazil at last year’s showpiece, he is also hoping to execute a possession based tactic.
“I think it (our defence) is a platform on which we built a lot of our success at last year’s World Cup, and even prior to that. So I think it's one of the things that we'll continue to do. The game is played in many different phases, but you always give yourself a good opportunity to be successful with a good defensive platform, and so that will continue as well because good defensive platform is needed against a very good technical Brazilian team,” Busby shared.
That said, Busby pointed out that Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s presence is certainly missed, but in the same breath he argued that the prolific Manchester City striker's absence also presents an opportunity for other players to step up and showcase the squad’s depth.
“Injuries happen and unfortunately she [Shaw] is not able to be with us, but we have a really good depth and a really good squad and so we know another player will step up. We have more than enough players to come in and give us different qualities from what she [Shaw] gives us,” the former national goalkeeper reasoned.
“But it is a team we've organized, we've known that she's going to be away for a couple of weeks now, so we've just kind of obviously looked to adapt in terms of how we look to play and what we're looking to do over a longer period of time. So really, the whole process for us is to keep building so that we can be back in this wonderful country in 2027 (for the World Cup),” Busby ended.
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