Gennaro Gattuso Praises Battling Spirit of His AC Milan Side After 1-1 Draw With Fiorentina

AC Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso has praised the battling spirit of his fatigued side after they came from a goal behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina

AC Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso has praised the battling spirit of his fatigued side after they came from a goal behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina on Saturday.

Milan lacked attacking intent for the majority of their clash at Stadio Artemio Franchi and were left to pay the price when Giovanni Simeone opened the scoring for the home side, giving Fiorentina a deserved lead. 

Despite looking devoid of ideas in the final third, Hakan Calhanoglu secured a point for Milan after he hit the back of the net just three minutes later.

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Despite having just one attempt on goal in the first half and falling behind in the second half, Milan rallied together and earned a much needed point - showing a fighting spirit which has left Gattuso hopeful of a revival in 2018.

Following the game Gattuso told Mediaset Premium, via FourFourTwo: "We didn't want to lose and knew that some of our players weren't in great shape.

"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.

If this was the game to go out and stake a claim for that last European place, all the teams behind Fiorentina & Milan will be optimistic about overtaking them. Little imagination or enterprise from either side. #FiorentinaMilan

— Giancarlo Rinaldi (@ginkers) December 30, 2017

"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."

On the performance as a whole, he added: "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."