Montella hails Milan character after Sassuolo win

Vincenzo Montella praised AC Milan’s character after they battled back from 3-1 down to beat Sassuolo 4-3 at San Siro.

Despite taking the lead in the ninth minute through Giacomo Bonaventura, Milan’s usually solid defence imploded and allowed the visitors to cruise into a two-goal lead.

However, goals from Carlos Bacca, Manuel Locatelli and Gabriel Paletta – all within eight second-half minutes – won the day, leaving Montella delighted.

“We started the game very well,” he told Sky Italia. “We went ahead deservedly.

“But then we lost security and clarity in our thinking, they took control, and in the second half we were stretched.

“We won with the character and showed a different feature in our game.”

Montella watched the second half from the stands, having been dismissed at half-time for his reaction towards the referee, but he was remorseful afterwards.

“I have no comment on the refereeing decisions,” he added. “I’m sorry for what happened.

“I looked at the clock and the final whistle of the first half was as Bacca launched an attack. Maybe I exaggerated. I apologised to the referee, maybe I went a little over the top as well.”