Super subs work wonders for Allegri

Massimiliano Allegri highlighted his half-time substitutions as the reason for AC Milan’s 4-3 comeback win over Lecce on Sunday.

Serie A champions Milan trailed from the third minute of the match at the Stadio Via del Mare.

On-loan defender Massimo Oddo netted a penalty against his parent club, and Carlos Grossmuller got in on the scoring act to make it 3-0 with eight minutes of the first half still to go.

Milan coach Allegri took decisive action, introducing Alberto Aquilani and Kevin-Prince Boateng for the second half, in place of Robinho and Massimo Ambrosini respectively.

The switch proved to be a master stroke, as Boateng’s hat-trick and a Mario Yepes goal sealed a remarkable turnaround.

“This is a very important win for Milan in a difficult away game,” Allegri said.

“The substitutions were the only way for us to turn the game around. I knew we had the quality to bounce back.”

“Lecce lost intensity after the interval, while we put in a great performance in the second half. We scored straight after the restart and things just went perfectly from then on.”

Allegri believes his team were unfortunate to find themselves so far behind at such an early stage of the match, but also gave Lecce credit for their efforts.

“We got a bit chaotic on the first goal, then the penalty and an unlucky third made life very difficult for us,” he said.

“When looking at the footage at normal speed, it did seem like a penalty, but the replays show there was no contact. Still, referees can get things wrong, as that is football.”

“The fact remains we were too stretched out and couldn’t do anything in the first half, partly because Lecce worked harder and constantly doubled up on us.”

Milan are seventh in the table, four points back from leaders Udinese.