MILAN (Reuters) - Talking points from the Serie A weekend.
MILAN COACH OPTIMISTIC DESPITE ANOTHER DEFEAT
AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli was encouraged by his team's performance against champions Juventus even though they suffered their third defeat in five games under his leadership.
"Our performances are improving. We were a match for very strong opponents," he said after their 1-0 away loss. "But we were still lacking that extra quality, accuracy and attention."
ATALANTA FURIOUS AFTER SAMPDORIA ESCAPE RED CARD
Atalanta were furious after Sampdoria's Alex Ferrari escaped a sending-off for hauling down substitute Musa Barrow when he appeared to have a clear scoring chance in their 0-0 away draw.
Their anger was compounded minutes later when their own player, Ruslan Malinovskyi, was sent off for a second booking.
"It was impossible not to see that Barrow was going on goal. That red card would have completely changed the game," said Atalanta director Umberto Marino, adding that coach Gian Piero Gasperini was too angry to talk to the media.
FONSECA BLAMES FATIGUE FOR ROMA DEFEAT
AS Roma coach Paulo Fonseca blamed for fatigue for their 2-0 defeat at Parma which cost them third place. Roma played Borussia Moenchengladbach only three days earlier in the Europa League and Fonseca is already battling an injury crisis.
"I think the team was certainly tired," he said. "These players had played in all of our recent games and it's nothing to do with their attitude. They've covered so much ground and were tired, slower and not as quick to react as they usually are."
(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Ken Ferris)