El Shaarawy apologises for defeat

AC Milan forward Stephan El Shaarawy has apologised for his team’s display after they were beaten 1-0 by Atalanta on Saturday.

Luca Cigarini scored the only goal of the game to condemn Milan to a second defeat of the season at San Siro, leaving them with a total of three points from their opening three Serie A games.

The 19-year-old insisted that while the result was disappointing, the number of chances created was a positive to take from the game and instead looked towards Tuesday’s Champions League encounter against Anderlecht.

“Sorry, this is the second home defeat. We didn’t have a bad game, we created many chances (but) the ball didn’t come,” El Shaarawy told the club’s TV channel.

“Their players had much less (chances), but they managed. Now (we must) think of the match on Tuesday.

“We are always calm, and will prepare for the game in the best way. We strive for as much as possible, then in the game it is different.

“Anderlecht? (On) Tuesday, we are expecting a tough game, certainly it will not be easy. We must try to win, and play carefree.”