Sergio Conceicao Satisfied With AC Milan's Performance When Defeating Lecce

JAKARTA - AC Milan showed their character and maximum performance when they beat Lecce 3-2 in the Italian Serie A match. Coach Sergio Conceicao was satisfied with the spirit of never giving up the players so he was able to get up to catch up.

Lecce really became Milan's formidable opponent in a duel at the Ettore Girardiniero Stadium - Via del Mare, Sunday, March 9, 2025 in the morning WIB. But Milan actually started impressively.

They broke into Lecce's goal when the game had only been running for a minute. Santiago Gimenez's goal was later disallowed because he was in an offside position.

Not only once but the goal again scored by Milan's Matteo Gabbia was also disallowed. The goal that continued Theo Hernandez's free kick was canceled after being reviewed through VAR because Gabbia was in an offside position. At that time, Milan itself was 1-0 behind after Lecce's Nikola Krstovic scored in the seventh minute.

Milan became increasingly lagging behind after Krstovic for the second time breaking into Marco Sportiello's goal to replace Mike Maignan. The goal was also created in the early minutes of the second half.

In a 2-0 position, Milan finally got up. Defender Antonino's own goal made Milan start to catch up. Furthermore, Christian Pulisic managed to score a brace that brought the Rossoneri back 3-2 ahead.

A relief victory and Milan managed to climb one strip in the standings. They are ranked eighth after pocketing 44 points.

But Conceicao highlighted more the mentality and character shown by the players. They did not lose their spirits even though two goals were disallowed and then trailed by two goals.

"We do have longer time to prepare for this match. We can also know Lecce's strengths and weaknesses," Conceicao was quoted as saying by Football Italia.

"It's just that, we had difficulties and two goals were disallowed. In the second half, our game was also not as expected until they finally scored a second goal. In conditions like this it seemed difficult to get up. But they showed the real character," said Conceicao again.

Conceicao, further revealed his strategy by including players who have offensive characters. The strategy turned out to be successful because Milan then caught up.

"I field players who have offensive characters and everything ends well. The team deserves credit for showing the right attitude. That's what I like," he said.

"In this match, aggressiveness and pressure as we want are as expected," he said.

Victory over Lecce also stopped Milan's record of defeat. Previously, they lost three consecutive times in domestic competitions and failed to improve their rankings.