Allegri values points over style

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri admitted his team were far from their best in Tuesday’s Serie A victory over Cagliari.

The Italian champions cruised to a 2-0 win at Sant’Elia, with a Francesco Pisano own goal and a strike from Zlatan Ibrahimovic sealing victory.

The win puts the Rossoneri one point clear of Juventus at the Serie A summit, although the Turin club can regain top spot if they beat Udinese on Wednesday evening.

Speaking after the match, Allegri recognised that the game was far from a classic but stated that in such a tight fight at the top for the Scudetto, that every point counts.

“It was not a beautiful game, but it was important to take the three points and finish the year in the best way possible,” Allegri said.

“We had a hard game on Sunday, and maybe today we saw a little tiredness.”

Allegri praised Swedish star Ibrahimovic, whose goal in the second half put the game out of reach for Cagliari.

“He is feeling good and he is scoring, he is an extraordinarily important player for us,” he said.

Milan will not play competitive football again until January 8 against Atalanta when the Italian league restarts following a break over the holiday period.