MILAN – "We were punished by two episodes." A concise but fair analysis by Andrea Stramaccioni after the team's 2-2 draw with Rubin Kazan. The coach continued: "We found it tough to close them down and they know how to cause you problems. Overall I was pleased with our performance, more so by what we did after the restart. They took the lead from a situation when we weren't even in danger. It was just a mistake, but we're not blaming anyone for it. It's the fourth time we've found ourselves trailing at San Siro inside the first 20 minutes, and that sets the game on a certain path, but we carved out chances. I particularly liked the way we played in the second period, when we held our ground further up the pitch. But then we all dropped our guard and let them score again.
"Another game without a win at the Meazza? Of course it annoys us. It annoys us because we aren't able to give the fans what they deserve, but they got behind as once again today. They got behind the team and also me personally. I thank them for that. We're sorry we couldn't send them home happy. This might sound like I'm simplifying things but we got punished by two episodes. It angers me because we did lots of good things and yet you again find yourself without a win."
The coach also explained his substitutions: "I needed to bring on a third midfielder and I wanted to retain the qualities the captain and Nagatomo offered us, that's why I substituted Jonathan at half-time. It wasn't because of the penalty. Cassano? It was getting crowded in the middle of the park, I wanted players who could give us a bit of width. It was a tactical decision, not because Antonio was tired. He's fine, he did very well tonight. He was inspirational."
