AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri admitted his team “needs more conviction” after they failed to make ground on Serie A leaders Napoli following a 1-1 draw with Atalanta in Bergamo.
Napoli had narrowly beaten Lecce earlier in the day and Allegri may have thought his side was going to close the gap to just one point when midfielder Samuele Ricci opened the scoring less than five minutes in.
However, Atalanta, who remain unbeaten in the league this season, hit back and levelled in the 35th minute courtesy of a fine Ademola Lookman finish from a tight angle to earn his side their seventh draw in their opening nine top-flight matches.
The result sees Milan leapfrog Roma, who entertain Parma on Wednesday, into second spot, and Allegri said his players “should be satisfied with the performance” but that there are still areas to improve.
“In the first half we had to defend because we made too many technical errors when building from the back,” the Milan manager said.
“We had the chance to play, I don’t know if it was fatigue or the quality of Atalanta, but they also deserved credit.
“The second half was better, we created chances to score but we made wrong decisions in the last 20 meters, and we must improve there. This team needs more conviction in what it does.
“But the players should be satisfied with the performance in Bergamo, we extend our positive streak, and now on Sunday we have a strong match against Roma.”
